And they rely on selling both to be profitable. But now their customers are used to not buying the latter (random crap) so that they can afford the former. And the retailers are realizing they may not begin buying random crap again even when prices decrease, because life without the random crap isn’t much different.
These are stores which also sell necessities, not just random crap. Based on the article, it sounds like mostly food is having its prices scaled back.
And they rely on selling both to be profitable. But now their customers are used to not buying the latter (random crap) so that they can afford the former. And the retailers are realizing they may not begin buying random crap again even when prices decrease, because life without the random crap isn’t much different.