Back to the Future:History Lessons for the Retail Industry Today

By Josh Cohen, President/CEO of Pearl Media

To survive the online revolution, retail stores should study a similar period of mass disruption – the fabled decade of the 1950s, when the advent of television nearly destroyed the movie industry of its day.

During this time, movie attendance in the U.S. plummeted more than 50 percent, from 90 million a week in 1946 to 40 million a week in 1960.  With the arrival of “free TV,” consumers no longer had to leave home to enjoy filmed entertainment. The industry was forced to downsize, close theaters and lay off thousands. Anxiety and desperation swept through the movie studios. Read the rest on Adweek 360