Which retailer is next?

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anarky
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Which retailer is next?

Post by anarky »

Not sure if I want to do this as a poll or not. It's kinda depressing.

An insane number of furniture stores died recently, leaving vacant Wickes stores that had only been open a year or less dotting the countryside.

Mervyn's is gone. They sucked the last few years, but they're gone.

KB is gone. Ditto what I said about Mervyn's. TRU is now the only dedicated toy store that can meet the minimum order requirements for Hasbro and Mattel without going through a third party like Diamond and having to charge a massive markup.

Gottschalk's (not sure how major they are; I think they're just SoCal) has said they doubt they can make it through the month.

Macy's is closing 11 stores soon. I had them pegged as "in trouble" due to my "ghetto clothes" theory, which had been previously proven by K-Mart, Sears, and Mervyn's. (Basically, take a store that's doing well and sells nice-looking clothes, whether they're good quality or not. All four of these suddenly carried mostly so-called "urban" clothing for the past several months. There's nothing wrong with that style, but the sudden shift always seems to indicate desperation.)

My brother told me he'd read JC Penney was in shit shape, which doesn't surprise me, and seems confirmed by an article on The Motley Fool. Of course, he also told me Target was going under and GM was permanently shutting its doors, neither of which are true (at least yet), so I'm chalking this one up to speculation. Still, likely accurate speculation.

Border's is in really bad shape, and, as much as I used to love them and Waldenbooks, I won't miss 'em. They've done such a horrible job of adapting to the times. For starters, don't not have a website and contract your online business to your biggest competitor (amazon.com), especially if, when you leave them, you don't set up a new site of your own for over a year, and, when you do, it doesn't even have much for sale or decent prices--especially if you're going to bitch about amazon.com hurting your business.

Circuit City, obviously, is in bad trouble, I suspect for trying to cut the customer service they were known for and trying to beat Best Buy on their own turf.

Sears/K-Mart I don't give a year. That POS chain is on life support. I can't see how it lasted so long with their retarded strategy of combining the worst aspects of Sears and K-Mart, turning all their stores (regardless of the name of each store) into shitty, filthy K-Marts with Sears' high prices. Figures have gone up. But not that much. They shouldn't charge $10 and $28 for a Star Wars basic figure and GIJoe DVD pack I'd pay $7 or $20 for elsewhere. Especially when their stock is old as dirt.

These are speculation, but I'm adding them to the list, too:

FYE: The model of severely overpriced specialty stores has proven to not work for other types of merchandise. With the music industry still fighting rather than embracing new business models, FYE is doomed.

Radio Shack: I still am referred to Radio Shack for gadgets, and everyone still thinks that's what they sell. Trouble is, they only do cell phones now. The cell phone carriers and local businesses can do this far more cheaply.

Pier 1: Low quality, overpriced stuff. A lot of it furniture. The furniture isn't moving, and World Market can do the other stuff better. (Though I think World Market is borderline as it is.)

Blockbuster: At least the stores are going to close. Ditto for Hollywood Video. Too bad these monopolistic rat bastard companies drove pretty much every single other video rental mom & pop store or chain completely into oblivion before dying off themselves.

On the one hand, it's almost sad so many of these companies will die. But it's not really that different from what happened during the recession of the late 80s and early 90s.

The only thing that concerns me is that, with each major retailer that fades away, we are one step closer to a Wal-Mart dominated economy. That scares me.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by vynsane »

hahahaha, EAT IT, economy!!!
anarky wrote:Mervyn's is gone. They sucked the last few years, but they're gone.
i never even HEARD of this store until they folded. true story.
Gottschalk's
i think you're just making up names now.
Macy's is closing 11 stores soon.
they'll never go out of business. they're an NYC staple. if you've ever been in the herald square store, you'd realize it's going to last until three years after the earth plummets into the sun.
My brother told me he'd read JC Penney was in shit shape
quite possible. my gramps was mr. penney's personal assistant and an ad man for JCP and they're worried about his pension and stocks.
Sears/K-Mart I don't give a year.
they have combined stores? not around here...
FYE: The model of severely overpriced specialty stores has proven to not work for other types of merchandise. With the music industry still fighting rather than embracing new business models, FYE is doomed.
tower records folded. i'm surprised there are still any other record stores out there. i'm sure they're only kept afloat by DVD sales and their vast selection of esoteric music you can only find at a store like that, but not for long.
Radio Shack: I still am referred to Radio Shack for gadgets, and everyone still thinks that's what they sell. Trouble is, they only do cell phones now. The cell phone carriers and local businesses can do this far more cheaply.
really? i dunno... the last time i was in one they had a lot of gadgety stuff... R/C cars, cabling, connectors, etc...
Blockbuster:
YAAAAAAAAY!!!! (fuck you, blockbuster! shampoo your carpets every once-in-a-while and maybe people will want to enter your stores. that said, probably not anyway...)
Too bad these monopolistic rat bastard companies drove pretty much every single other video rental mom & pop store or chain completely into oblivion before dying off themselves.
entire post in a nutshell. but look at all the mom & pops that might be able to come back now!
The only thing that concerns me is that, with each major retailer that fades away, we are one step closer to a Wal-Mart dominated economy. That scares me.
not really, they're hurting pretty badly as well.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by Diabolical »

anarky wrote:Border's is in really bad shape, and, as much as I used to love them and Waldenbooks, I won't miss 'em. They've done such a horrible job of adapting to the times. For starters, don't not have a website and contract your online business to your biggest competitor (amazon.com), especially if, when you leave them, you don't set up a new site of your own for over a year, and, when you do, it doesn't even have much for sale or decent prices--especially if you're going to bitch about amazon.com hurting your business.
I've always found Borders to have pretty good sales, far better than Barnes & Noble. Their online prices are pretty good also. Maybe not as good as amazon, but comparable.
And those store club cards (or whatever you call 'em) maybe be irritating, but at Borders it's free and you can get up to 40% off new releases with frequent email coupons (25%-40% off). B&N charges like $25 for theirs.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by Ran »

Levitz furnitre was another big store that closed. Office Depot is also scaling back.

Did Bombay Company completely close down? They were similar to Pier 1.

I don't see how FYE is still open. They are basically the same thing as Suncoast and Sam Goody, and you know where they are.

KMart bought Sears, but it seems they kept their names. The only difference I can tell is that KMart now sells Craftsman tools. Craftsman might be one of the few things keeping them afloat.

Radio Shack seems to have lots of stores. It seems like they are in every other strip mall around here. I don't know why there are so many. Maybe old people still shop there.

Hollywood Video/Game Crazy left Vegas. I don't know why. A few months ago, the 2 or 3 that I knew of changed their name to something like "Mark's Video". It looked rushed and as if they didn't put any thought into it.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by anarky »

Nike and a few other companies severed all ties with Sears. They didn't want the stigma of being carried in K-Mart. (If you grew up in the 80s, you probably remember the jokes about K-Mart athletic shoes.)

K-Mart and Sears kept the names here, but they're almost the same store. The general layout is different, but both are filthy, understaffed, crowded, and expensive. They actually took one really nice Sears about 30 minutes from here and added random aisles in the clothing sections, one of which has to be in violation of some code because it only leaves a 2-foot clearance for the elevator. No way a wheelchair could use that elevator.

Mervyn's was mostly west-coast. But they were fucking huge out here. Kinda like I'd never heard of Meijer until people mentioned it. :) They were a lot like Kohl's--Kohl's basically does what Mervyn's used to, only better.

I don't think Macy's will go completely under, but you might have to go into NYC to visit one soon.

DB, I used to love Waldenbook's club card. Sure, it was $10, but combining the discount and rebates made it worth it. But then they started cutting back on their bargain books, and finally combined it into the Borders Reward club, which is only good for the coupons. Truth is, since there are pretty much no small bookstores left, I pretty much find a book somewhere, jot down the ISBN, and order it online. Even if I get something from B&N's website, they offer a 15% discount for AAA members.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by Diabolical »

anarky wrote:I don't think Macy's will go completely under, but you might have to go into NYC to visit one soon.
God I kinda hope not. Its not that i love the place or anything, but I do enjoy the paychecks.
anarky wrote:DB, I used to love Waldenbook's club card. Sure, it was $10, but combining the discount and rebates made it worth it. But then they started cutting back on their bargain books, and finally combined it into the Borders Reward club, which is only good for the coupons. Truth is, since there are pretty much no small bookstores left, I pretty much find a book somewhere, jot down the ISBN, and order it online.
Back when I ordered Watchmen, Borders was the only place that could get it to me in less than a week. And it was only like a buck more (at the most) than Amazon or B&N.
anarky wrote:Even if I get something from B&N's website, they offer a 15% discount for AAA members.
That is good to know since I got a B&N gift card for Christmas.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by vynsane »

anarky wrote:Nike and a few other companies severed all ties with Sears. They didn't want the stigma of being carried in K-Mart. (If you grew up in the 80s, you probably remember the jokes about K-Mart athletic shoes.)

K-Mart and Sears kept the names here, but they're almost the same store. The general layout is different, but both are filthy, understaffed, crowded, and expensive. They actually took one really nice Sears about 30 minutes from here and added random aisles in the clothing sections, one of which has to be in violation of some code because it only leaves a 2-foot clearance for the elevator. No way a wheelchair could use that elevator.
weird. i haven't been in sears all that often, but when we went looking for our washer and dryer, it wasn't like that. of course, we were there because they completely outright canceled our order of the washer and dryer online during the black friday doorbusters - they sold too many of them apparently, and instead of saying 'hey, do you want to get a refund or wait until they're available' they simply refunded us. we're going to get them in march (!) when they're available again, for the price that we paid that friday, or else i'm telling them they can have the fridge we bought then back.
Truth is, since there are pretty much no small bookstores left...
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by anarky »

Yeah, but a handful of stores in tourist areas and in huge cities (how it looks around here--and most of them appear to be coffee shops that happen to sell some books) don't have the market share that B&N or Borders do, which are in every single fucking town on earth. You can go to a village of five people in Zimbabwe with a total combined annual income of $0.34 from dirt farming, and there will be a Barnes & Noble there. Starbucks inside, of course, as well as a second Starbucks across the street.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by kidhuman »

The only thing holding Kmart open is the fact that they do Lay-A-way still on everything. A lot of people in my area still use it including myself. I used it for Christmas with the kids gifts. I dont think its enough to hold them open for years, but since they are the only ones doing it, its a bonus for them.

Target I dont think is going anywhere. That freakin store is always packed and its WM's only competition.

Penny's I havent heard anything about, but they have been running some insane sales lately, buy one pair of jeans, other is 99 cents. Could be a sign.

Macy's is not going anywhere. The Turkey day Parade made them famous and they only really need that one NYC store.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

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anarky wrote:Border's is in really bad shape, and, as much as I used to love them and Waldenbooks, I won't miss 'em. They've done such a horrible job of adapting to the times. For starters, don't not have a website and contract your online business to your biggest competitor (amazon.com), especially if, when you leave them, you don't set up a new site of your own for over a year, and, when you do, it doesn't even have much for sale or decent prices--especially if you're going to bitch about amazon.com hurting your business.
Meh, I won't miss them. Waldenbooks has been gone from my area for about four years now, and Borders closed their doors last summer. I always liked Barnes and Noble better anyway.
Circuit City, obviously, is in bad trouble, I suspect for trying to cut the customer service they were known for and trying to beat Best Buy on their own turf.
They're mostly all gone.
FYE: The model of severely overpriced specialty stores has proven to not work for other types of merchandise. With the music industry still fighting rather than embracing new business models, FYE is doomed.
Frankly, I'm surprised they're still in business. Overpriced is an understatement. I can't believe I actually applied for a job there when I was in high school.
Radio Shack: I still am referred to Radio Shack for gadgets, and everyone still thinks that's what they sell. Trouble is, they only do cell phones now. The cell phone carriers and local businesses can do this far more cheaply.
I'm surprised they're still in business too. Best Buy and phone service provider stores (Verizon, T-Mobile) should have run Radio Shack into the ground months ago.
Blockbuster: At least the stores are going to close. Ditto for Hollywood Video. Too bad these monopolistic rat bastard companies drove pretty much every single other video rental mom & pop store or chain completely into oblivion before dying off themselves.
I'm pretty sure Hollywood Video is done. All the stores near me that I'm aware of have been closed for months now.
On the one hand, it's almost sad so many of these companies will die. But it's not really that different from what happened during the recession of the late 80s and early 90s.
You mean the recession that claimed chains like Caldor?
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by anarky »

Circuit City is in talks with two potential buyers, both of whom are having trouble coming to terms because of the economy, and may start liquidating stores and assets on Friday.

Funny thing is, on Saturday, they were still honoring the 110% price guarantee. I'd think that'd be the first thing to go to cut costs.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by Ran »

The last few emails I've looked at from entertainment earth and BBTS have had some crazy sales on some of their stuff. I wonder if they are feeling a pinch, too.

Don't certain toy collector website get money through toy retailers? If a site doesn't get enough hits, I'd imagine that a retailer would pull or not renew their sponsorship. That might make certain webmasters come up with ways to increase the number of hits their site is getting, like crazy contests in the forums. That seemed to work before when they had those replica trivia contests.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by anarky »

Circuit City is liquidating. They have people outside with signs that say "Up to 30% off everything."

They weren't honoring the sales from the newspaper ad, which still were good, according to the terms in the ad. And everything was 10% off. Some items appear to have been marked up, and others taken off the shelves entirely.

Not sure where the "30%" figure came from.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by Ran »

Yes, there was an article on Friday when they announced the closing warning that Circuit City might mark up their stuff before the "sale". It looked like KB did the same thing. We went yesterday. CDs and DVDs were 20% off. Furniture was most of the 30% off. It looks like they stopped selling stuff online, too. Strange, because KB's site stayed open.
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Re: Which retailer is next?

Post by anarky »

If you get anything, pay attention. I went to a different store today, who had the same breakdown Ran described. I grabbed a few CDs and took them to the register. They rang up at regular price, then the guy overrode them. Trouble is, he didn't have a calculator, and seemed to just be making up numbers. I'm not kidding. Ridiculous as it sounds, I am not. He gave me the total, and I told him that was may more than it should be. He denied it, and I showed him the shit on his screen. "20% off $14 isn't $1. It's $2.80. I have no clue where you got $1 from; that's not even 10%." He still denied it. I figured I could demand a manager, who may or may not even give a shit since he's getting laid off. I just told the dude to forget it. "I'll put these back. I'll come back when someone who either has a calculator or can figure simple percentages is working."

My guess is they're ripping people off, since most people don't bother to figure it out in their heads or on their cellphone calculator and just notice the total is less than the total list price. Then, when they get home and realize they were screwed, it's too late, since there are no refunds. And who do you complain to in or about a company that'll be gone in two months?
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