Made in China, Sold by Amazon

This summer, when Macy’s made its big store-closing announcement, blame ran rampant.

Blame it on the fickle millennials who don’t want to go to the mall anymore. Or blame Silicon Valley for making the Internet such a go-to option for American consumers. Or blame it on Amazon, which has used that Internet to cut the legs out from under traditional retailing as we’ve always known it.

And, when nothing else is available, blame the Chinese.

The Chinese? We tend to blame them for everything, from unfair trade practices to ruining the environment to loading up our diets with MSG. But what’s the Chinese connection here?

Actually, it’s a connection that runs through Amazon, which has developed a remarkable ability to respond to a wide variety of shoppers’ orders while American retailers battle with inventory management, logistics challenges and supply chain issues.

The trick is a huge Chinese consumer goods manufacturing industry that is able to tap directly into the American market through Amazon.

“Amazon remains China’s gateway of choice,” says business writer Kenneth Rapoza in a piece this summer on the Forbes website.

“If Chinese companies want to sell directly to the American consumer without having to have a contract with Macy’s, or Claire’s, in the local shopping mall, Amazon is their gold standard.”

And, says Rapoza, it’s killing U.S. retailing. “Staples is closing stores because it is just as easy for consumers to buy a laptop or printer ink on Amazon… All 140 Sports Authorities are going out of business. It’s not just because of bricks-and-mortar rivals like Dick’s Sporting Goods. It’s just easier to find a Rob Gronkowski jersey on Amazon.”

The Amazon challenge is not new. Jeff Bezos first wormed his way into the American marketplace 20 years ago by selling books substantially cheaper than any bricks-and-mortar bookseller could match. All of those Borders and Barnes & Nobles, Doubledays and Waldenbooks, they’re mostly gone now.

Following the Walmart model, Amazon began expanding across merchandise lines, with competitive prices and wider and deeper selections, plus an increasingly potent fulfillment apparatus.

How could it do all that? Made in China.

“A month ago,” Rapoza wrote, “I ordered pillow covers for outdoor patio furniture. I couldn’t find them at Lowe’s or Home Depot. I got precisely what I wanted on Amazon. They arrived in a box. The return address: Guangzhou.”

Guangzhou is much farther from any American market than is Cincinnati or Atlanta, Bentonville, Ark., or Mooresville, N.C. But until American retailers can put together all of the legs of the stool – selection, price and reliable delivery – I’m afraid Chinese postmarks will continue to proliferate on the front porches of America.

And anchor spots in American malls will become farmers’ markets and seasonal gift stores. Got your goblin costumes for Halloween yet?

As a journalist, writer, editor and commentator, Steve Kaufman has been watching the store design industry for 20 years. He has seen the business cycle through retailtainment, minimalism, category killers, big boxes, pop-ups, custom stores, global roll-outs, international sourcing, interactive kiosks, the emergence of China, the various definitions of “branding” and Amazon.com. He has reported on the rise of brand concept shops, the demise of brand concept shops and the resurgence of brand concept shops. He has been an eyewitness to the reality that nothing stays the same, except the retailer-shopper relationship.