It’s Thursday night and you happen to remember that you have a project due Friday; the same one you’ve had weeks to do, for an annoying teacher that doesn’t accept anything late without killing your grade. You thought you had a poster board but you used it for a concert last Friday, so you decide to go to Staples at 10 p.m., only to find out that the location you have relied on for years is out of business. What will you do?

Since Staples offers online shopping, why not wait for that poster board?! It might come in two days late, and your teacher may have lowered your grade, but what other options are there? Without a storefront, students are forced to resort to online shopping, and it greatly hinders their school potential. Sadly, Staples is not the only culprit, as stores seem to be replacing their physical prominence with online dominance.

Many companies are closing their physical stores around the United States simply because, like Staples, they generate half of their profits online. Online shopping has become so easy and reliable for the general public that stores do not make enough profit to maintain their land. The closing of store locations only means fewer jobs for the economy. Radio Shack, for example, announced that they will close about 1,115 stores by the middle of next year. Mega-store JC Penney also announced that they will close around 33 stores nationwide. These are companies that earn massive profits regardless, yet online shopping websites like Amazon.com have halted the store business by a lot. It doesn’t take a genius to ship out items to homes. I understand that it’s cheaper for the companies, but sadly the families effected by these store closings suffer the consequences.

Now the big question is… Why is this happening? Well, for starters this economy is not at its finest. Let’s face it: We, the consumers, are the problem. I myself have gone to Best Buy, Staples, and even Wal-Mart to find the cheapest, best touch screen computer. When I found them, I compared prices, but none of them topped the price online. It was tempting to buy it that day. I really needed it, I had a paper due and my old computer was a complete mess; but Amazon sold me the same thing only cheaper so I decided to wait 15 days to get my computer and face the consequence of handing in my paper late just to save a couple dollars. This is what many people do in today’s society. They go to retail showrooms, choose what they want and order it online for the cheapest price. Even if it means sacrificing grades, students still go through with it! I do not mind as much if Special interest stores for electronics and clothing alike are closed. However, a supply store like Staples? Their very nature needs them to be open everywhere, and at all times.