Resolve to invest wisely this year. (Guest column).(Column)

As we face the advent of a brand new year, we seem to be witnessing an evolutionary phenomenon in retailing that reads like a textbook passage of Darwin's survival of the fittest. As an increasing number of retailers are forced to acknowledge that their current strategies and concepts are just not working, we are experiencing a great upheaval in customer loyalties and the shakeout of many companies.

Sept. 11 and its aftermath took its toll on the retail sector as customers chose to stare at their TV sets and remain in the safety of their homes. On the heels of this event, the financial press acknowledged that the terrorist events and its impact on our economy had at last pushed the country into an economic recession. To add to the confusion, much of the country was experiencing unseasonably mild weather in November and December.

This confluence of three "external" events is certainly not good news for retailing. But as tragic as much of this news is, it shouldn't be used as an …