In Towns Already Hit by Factory Closings, a New Casualty: Retail Jobs
“Every time you lose a corner store, every time you lose a restaurant, every time you lose a small clothing store, it detracts from the
quality of life, as well as the job loss,” said John McGrath, a professor of management at the University of Pittsburgh Johnstown.
When Mr. Trump spoke about “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation” in his Inaugural Address, people like Donald Bonk, a local economic development consultant, assumed
that Mr. Miller — who grew up in California but spent summers in Johnstown — was writing about the old Bethlehem Steel buildings that still hug long stretches of the Little Conemaugh River.
When major industries left town, retail accounted for a growing share of the job market in places like Johnstown, Decatur, Ill.,
and Saginaw, Mich. Now, the work force is getting hit a second time, and there is little to fall back on.
“I was the last generation to see it booming and prosperous,
and people were employed,” said Mr. Bonk, 53, the economic development consultant, who grew up in Johnstown.
Almost all customer fulfillment centers run by the online shopping behemoth Amazon are in metropolitan areas with more than 250,000 people
— close to the bulk of its customers — according to a list of locations compiled by MWPVL International, a logistics consulting firm.
The Johnstown metropolitan area, in western Pennsylvania, has lost 19 percent of its retail jobs since 2001, and the future is uncertain.
