Incomes are up. Jobs are so plentiful that employers complain they cannot find workers who have the right skills and can pass a drug test, and college graduates are entering the best market in years. Industrial output is rising. Housing starts rose 6.6 percent and building permits 3.6 percent in April from a month earlier. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta predict annual growth this year will “snap back” to 2.5 percent from the miserable first-quarter rate of 0.5 percent, and the president of the New York Fed thinks the economy is strong enough to withstand two interest rate increases this year, a view shared by many of his colleagues and, it seems, by the markets.

None of these favorable economic developments could reverse the decline of America’s department stores, which saw sales in the past year drop by 1.7 percent while shopping on Amazon, rival web sites and apps rose 2.4 percent. Macy’s, Nordstrom, Kohl and Dillard, among others, reported declining sales and profits, store closings, and a flight from many shopping malls. One television news channel posted this obituary, “Brick and mortar chain stores died this week, after a long illness. Born along Main Street, raised in shopping malls across post-World War II America, the traditional store enjoyed decades of good health, wealth and steady growth. But in recent years its fortunes have declined. Survived by Amazon.com and online outfits too numerous to list.“