At the end of April, we observed that "The Retail Bubble Has Now Burst" noting that "A Record 8,640 Stores Are Closing In 2017." We discussed that while there are many reason for this troubling collapse of one of the anchor industries underpinning America's economy, one stands out: the relentless growth of non-store, i.e. online retailers, among which one stands out: Amazon.

The following five charts demonstrate how Amazon took on one of the most venerable sectors of the US economy, one which employs nearly 16 million workers... and won.

No growth in department stores in the past decade:

Department stores vs Internet shopping total sales:

And annual growth, or lack thereof...

At the current pace, online sales will surpass total General Merchandise sales in the next 2-3 years.

Finally, the market cap of Amazon alone is more than 8 times the entire US department store index.

End result: $81 billion in the bank and rising.