The slow, painful death of traditional retailers is on full display this week. Shares of J.C. Penney plummeted 17% yesterday after the company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of more than $550 million. Despite some fairly drastic attempts at a turnaround, J.C. Penney looks like it’s headed in the direction of fellow old-school retailer Sears. To some degree, big retailers have always been high-end flea markets. Different brands display their wares using sub-let space. But [...] The Death of Retail, Continued appeared in the Daily Reckoning . Subscribe to The Daily Reckoning by visiting signup for an Agora Financial newsletter .