Tory Burch and The Last Mile

My wife loves Tory Burch shoes. I am not picking on Tory Burch shoes with this posting (a pair of Cabela's hunting boots has the same issues - - so don't send me hate e-mail) - - but they provide an excellent example of "The Last Mile" problem in the context of sustainability and our supply chains as we approach Peak Oil (or Peak Cheap Oil).

I am assuming the shoes are manufactured in China, like a large portion of our clothing and footwear market. The distance between China and Dallas, Texas is roughly 7,400 miles. The logistics chain to transport the Tory Burchs involves huge economies of scale in the context of energy utilization and consumption. From ships, to rail, to truck, to airplane - - the energy consumption on a per pair basis (call it BTUs per Tory Burch Shoes (TBS) or BTUs/TBSs) is driven lower by the fact that 4,999 of other Tory Burch shoes are traveling with my wife's one pair as they make their way across the 7,400 miles.

The problem is "The Last Mile" - - and in the case of our family, the last 40 miles. The 40 miles represents the round trip to the Neiman Marcus at NorthPark Center to try on the shoes and make the purchase. When we drive my truck (Yes, two people - - I will be making the trip also), we consume roughly three gallons of gasoline (approximately 300,000 BTUs per TBSs or approximately 58 pounds of carbon dioxide per TBSs). This doesn't sound all that bad - - except when you are at NorthPark on this particular Saturday, you see 5,000 other families that have also blown the economies of scale in "The Last Mile."

Maybe the Internet and online shopping helps to solve "The Last Mile" problem - - UPS has much greater economies of scale than my truck. But their last mile is still worse than their first mile - - and UPS is going to have the same problems I have in the era of Peak Oil. As we move into a world with a greater emphasis on system sustainability, how we address and manage "The Last Mile" problem becomes critical. The problem is embedded in a huge portion of our retail logistics chain, but also in other parts of our national and international infrastructure. From high speed fiber optics, to wastewater collection, to solid waste removal services - - the problems and deteriorating economies of scale associated with "The Last Mile" needs to be addressed in a world with a greater focus on sustainability.