Stores Commiting Suicide

[schild]

Welfare lines. And to your job for less money. And maybe some will join the military.

[Oban]

I'm only sad to be seeing thousands of people losing their jobs....and where will they go?

Walmart.

Wish I was joking.

http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=wmt

[Ralence]

I honestly don't feel bad for the large companies, the economy has changed and so have the customers, adapt or go extinct I suppose.  The people I do feel bad for are the small independent operations, the family run businesses that are just floundering.  Every time I drive by one of those "main street" type of areas near me, it's now half made up of "For Lease" signs everywhere, just like my local mall.

I really think we've seen about the worst of the residential real estate collapse, but the commercial crash is still on it's way.  Companies like WalMart, who have made their name based on "cheap" are the only ones who are really in any position to thrive.  Those middle of the road retailers who used things like customer service and better quality as their selling points are really just destined for failure.  You're either WalMart, or your not.

I work in the grocery business, and my company is known for it's prices.  That's what we do.  But we're a co-op with independently owned stores (Albeit 1million/week size stores), but we're experiencing a 10-15% upswing over the previous year, and though 5% is from flat pricing increases, the rest is from people who really care about saving money.

So while these mismanaged retailers are falling on their face, our company is actually expanding and thriving in this environment, but only because we were in the position to take advantage of the economic situation.

I really believe that in January/February we will see the majority of it.  A lot of retailers depend on the holiday sales to carry them through the slow months in the beginning of the year, and I just don't think the money is going to be there.  My family isn't going to exchange gifts at all this year, nobody really has the extra cash for it, and I used to spend $300-400 every Christmas on just my family.

[apocrypha]

I really think we've seen about the worst of the residential real estate collapse, but the commercial crash is still on it's way.  Companies like WalMart, who have made their name based on "cheap" are the only ones who are really in any position to thrive.  Those middle of the road retailers who used things like customer service and better quality as their selling points are really just destined for failure.  You're either WalMart, or your not.

One thing I'd add to that is that the cheap end of the market has become a very crowded sector in recent years, at least in the UK. The competition for selling shoddy crap is intense. As an example, here in the UK, Woolworths has just gone into receivership. Woolworths is a very old chain of stores that were always very much in the "cheap & cheerful" mold but increasingly they've faced competition from supermarkets.

WalMart are a great example - they own ASDA here and supermarkets like that have increasingly diversified over the last decade or so. Where they used to sell groceries and not much else they now sell pretty much everything from clothes and furniture to TVs and DVDs and even insurance and banking products.

I think you're spot on about the small businesses - they're increasingly going to be swallowed up by larger ones (as is the case in any crisis of overproduction, i.e. recession) and we're going to see a further large shift towards monopolisation. So much for competition breeding choice eh?

[Grimwell]

Uncle Obama's welfare lines. 

[apocrypha]

Heh, yeah, how many times now has the phrase "share the sacrifice" been aired in recent weeks? I'll shut up there or run the risk of dragging this into politics... 

[Samprimary]

god i wonder why sharper image went out of business

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpDZ3WotLXY

[FatuousTwat]

Oh god. WHO BUYS THAT SHIT?!

[Signe]

I would play that.  It's better than what I'm playing right now which is the washing machine. 

[Yegolev]

The best thing Sharper Image had was the electrostatic air filter.

[schild]

The best thing Sharper Image had was the electrostatic air filter.

That thing was a useless piece of shit actually. Unless you already knew that.

[Yegolev]

Yeah.  Mine works fine for what it is and where it is.  I would not use it in any serious application.  My last house had a mold problem that this thing would not even come close to handling, and we put in a decent filtration system in the HVAC unit.  It didn't have an electrostatic filter, rather it relied on sticky intake filters and a UV light.  Electrostatic filtration is a good idea but pretty easy to half-ass, apparently.

[schild]

It's not even really a good idea and it doesn't really work. You'd have to blow a fan through the back of it to make it remotely worthwhile. Consumer Reports did a writeup on what a piece of shit it was, particularly for the cost.

[Yegolev]

You'd have to blow a fan through the back of it to make it remotely worthwhile.

This is the biggest problem I have with it.  Overpriced and underpowered, better to invest in some HVAC filtration.  It is still the best thing SI had, unless you start considering things like that full-size xenomorph replica I saw in a store somewhere.

[HaemishM]

Oh god. WHO BUYS THAT SHIT?!

Apparently, nobody. The amount of doucheface in that video was truly 

[schild]

I had to change the title. I just couldn't take it anymore.

/ocd.

[Cyrrex]

More Circuit City fun.  I saw in their Black Friday ad that they had two 12" Kicker subwoofers for the price of one, so 100 bucks gets you two.  I went down to the local one that is on their third week of Store Closing Big Savings and noticed that they had the same speakers there.  Marked all the way down to 89 dollars apiece.  Um.  The only thing dumber than that is that people are lapping that shit up.  As stupid as CC is, their customers are worse, it seems.

[Riggswolfe]

I'll kind of miss Wilson's Leather. I used to go in there when they had their stuff on sale. I thought KB Toys was already dead? It was the shittiest toy store in existence mostly because its selection sucked.

What worries me is a lot of these are stores in my local malls. I shudder to think of either mall with half their spots empty because stores are closing.

[Merusk]

I'll kind of miss Wilson's Leather. I used to go in there when they had their stuff on sale. I thought KB Toys was already dead? It was the shittiest toy store in existence mostly because its selection sucked.

What worries me is a lot of these are stores in my local malls. I shudder to think of either mall with half their spots empty because stores are closing.

If it's only half, then your mall is doing better than most.  The mall mall near me that ISN'T directly targeted at the $100k+ income crowd has Victoria's Secret, Aunt Anne's, Spencer's Gifts, Hot Topic and B. Dalton as its sole reason for exsistence now.  The other major stores are Talbot's, Gamestop, Footlocker, Abercrombie, and the three "Gap" flavors.   Oh, and the usual mall jewelers, but nothing will ever put tacky overpriced crap like that out of business.

[Nevermore]

When Spencer Gifts is one of your anchors stores, it's time to just shut down the mall.

[Nebu]

Can we please add Ikea and Pier 1 to the list?  I hate the overpriced crap both of those places sell. 

[schild]

Can we please add Ikea and Pier 1 to the list?  I hate the overpriced crap both of those places sell. 

What in the 9-hells is Ikea overpriced compared to? Walmart? Because it's not.

Pier 1, well, yes, agreed.

[Ingmar]

Ikea is reallllllllly cheap. Seriously, go to to a regular furniture store, you will weep.

BTW this list appears to be from a spam email thing that went around recently:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/storeclosings.asp

[Nebu]

My comment on Ikea was more one of value than price.  I'm not impressed by the quality of 99% of the items they sell.  I just can't see paying that much for throw-away furniture unless it were for a dorm. 

[schild]

My comment on Ikea was more one of value than price.  I'm not impressed by the quality of 99% of the items they sell.  I just can't see paying that much for throw-away furniture unless it were for a dorm. 

Or a bachelor pad. Or bachelorette pad. Or ANYTHING that isn't a home for a family. And even then, some of it isn't so bad. Heh.

[Samwise]

I've gotten a bunch of good things from Ikea and a few lemons.  The trick seems to be to not go for the absolute cheapest line of any particular item.  And even then it's usually fine as long as you don't plan on moving it around.

I would not, however, ever buy something from the catalog.  Seeing it in the showroom and kicking it a few times to see if it breaks is essential.

[Oban]

Or a bachelor pad. Or bachelorette pad. Or ANYTHING that isn't a home for a family. And even then, some of it isn't so bad. Heh.

...or if you have kids and realize that you can not have nice things in the house until they turn 18.

[Strazos]

Or even after 18 if they still act like kids...or you yourself or your friends still act like kids.

[Cyrrex]

Or if your kids steal all your money and move to the Yukon, so you can no longer afford furniture that isn't from IKEA.

There are some weird threads going around this morning, and I'm proud to be a part of them.

[JWIV]

I've gotten a bunch of good things from Ikea and a few lemons.  The trick seems to be to not go for the absolute cheapest line of any particular item.  And even then it's usually fine as long as you don't plan on moving it around.

I would not, however, ever buy something from the catalog.  Seeing it in the showroom and kicking it a few times to see if it breaks is essential.

Ikea bookshelves are fantastic - I've had a few sets of them for years and they seem pretty much indestructible.  Their dressers and drawers however fucking suck.  One sock too many and the bottom will fall out of drawer and basically you'll spend a few hours with a hot glue gun and shims trying to get it to fucking hold well enough until you can afford to replace the entire damn set.

I think Samwise has got the overall right idea though. 

[Broughden]

And even then, some of it isn't so bad. Heh.

Wrong. Most of it is made of composite or fiber board. Its shit. If you think composite is okay for furniture you are doing it wrong.

[Nebu]

Composite and veneer are two words I avoid when buying any furniture unless I accept that I'm going to throw it away in a couple years.  They do make a good point... on a budget it's reasonable in the short term.  Personally I prefer to just wait until I can afford solid wood stuff.  I've never regretted it. 

[Cyrrex]

Composite and veneer are two words I avoid when buying any furniture unless I accept that I'm going to throw it away in a couple years.  They do make a good point... on a budget it's reasonable in the short term.  Personally I prefer to just wait until I can afford solid wood stuff.  I've never regretted it. 

That's nice for you, Captain Moneybags (I jest), but most people cannot afford solid furniture.  Also, having worked in a furniture store for several years in my younger days, I promise you that well over 90% of the human population doesn't even know the fucking difference between solid wood and some form of fiberboard, at least on a higher quality fiberboard.  I know you are a bright guy, so this question is directed at the general You:  are you really sure that shit is solid?

[Nebu]

Two words: Estate Sales. 

I've picked up some WONDERFUL bargains.  Handmade furniture for pennies on the dollar.  You just have to do a little research. 

[Nevermore]

Composite and veneer are two words I avoid when buying any furniture unless I accept that I'm going to throw it away in a couple years.  They do make a good point... on a budget it's reasonable in the short term.  Personally I prefer to just wait until I can afford solid wood stuff.  I've never regretted it. 

That's nice for you, Captain Moneybags (I jest), but most people cannot afford solid furniture.  Also, having worked in a furniture store for several years in my younger days, I promise you that well over 90% of the human population doesn't even know the fucking difference between solid wood and some form of fiberboard, at least on a higher quality fiberboard.  I know you are a bright guy, so this question is directed at the general You:  are you really sure that shit is solid?

My bedroom furniture was made by the Amish, so I'm pretty confident it's Solid.  That shit will last until long after my grandkids are dust.