Where have all the retail sales gone?

WashPo has a long article here bewailing the lack of retail sales.  One reason might be the really utilitarian product retailers have to sell.  Consider Walmart.  A worthy place, the price is right, the stuff is OK, and I shop there.  But only for pretty utilitarian things, like Jockey shorts, prescription medicine,  and paper towels.   Over the last few years we have lost the Radio Shack, a nice kitchenware place, a decent used book store, a very decent new book and toy store, an Ace Hardware, two video stores, and The Oasis restaurant.   All that's left is Lahout's, Walmart, Staples, Home Despot, and Lowes.  None of them are very gifty stores.
  For Christmas, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, I go on line to find nice stuff to give as gifts.   I gotta drive a long way south on I93,. Tilton or Concord.  to find anything much better.  So this Christmas, Amazon, Lee Valley, Signals, and Garrett Wade got all my Christmas buying. 

Striking fear into Third World Sweatshops

Walmart suffered public relations disaster some months ago.  A fire in a Bangladeshi clothing factory killed 112 workers last November.  Piles of garments with Walmart labels were found in the burned out ruins.  Walmart had stopped doing business with that factory, but other companies that Walmart was doing business with subcontracted Walmart work out to the sweatshop that Walmart had cut off. 
  So, in today's Wall St Journal Walmart announced that it was posting a list of firms that it will not do business with on the Walmart corporate website.
  Wow.  Screw up and get yourself on the Walmart blacklist.  Worldwide no less.  Have the world's largest retailer publically blacklist your firm.  That ought to kill a lot of sales, in fact kill enough sales to put just about anyone out of business. 
   Lesson to be learned.  Stay on Walmart's good side. 
   Later in the article it is mentioned that "labor activists" don't think this is enough to curb bad behavior by third world suppliers.  What do they want?  Walmart can't nuke 'em.  Telling the world that the So-and-So Company is too sleazy for Walmart to buy from isn't enough?