Posted on 01/09/2017 2:58:45 AM PST by expat_panama
Sears. Macy's. Kohl's. Traditional department store retailers have taken hard hits over the Christmas holidays, with sales lagging the generally robust performance of retailers overall. Now, these mall stalwarts are slashing thousands of jobs and hundreds of stores, trying to right-size themselves. It's no coincidence.
Sears on Thursday became the latest retailer to announce that it was restructuring... ...Macy's is letting 10,000 people go. And Kohl's warned about its decline in sales over the holidays. Analysts expect Kohl's to announce cuts.
A few years back, it was discounter Wal-Mart, the biggest retailer on earth, announcing it was closing 100 stores.
What's going on here? In a word, Amazon.com.
The online e-retailing giant has become a dominant force...
...as brutal as it sounds, this is actually a good thing... ...new generation of retailers is using technology to personalize the customer's buying experience and use artificial intelligence to compete on the web.
Sears will never be the same. Nor will the rest of the industry. And economic changes such as those experienced by our venerable high-end retailers aren't pleasant. But they usually are beneficial and even necessary, bringing new growth where there was none and offering new possibilities for workers and customers alike. So while we lament the nostalgic past, we should also embrace the possibilities of the future.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
The only thing I really dislike buying on line is clothing, and that is because it is incredibly difficult to buy something that fits. There are no standard sizes, and even clothes that nominally are the same size have different cuts that drastically affect how they fit.
I have not seen any sources of fresh produce and meats on-line, and probably would not buy those, either. That is because I like to inspect these products.
Outside of those two categories, there are plenty of things I buy on-line. Many retailers will deliver your purchase to their nearest brick-and-mortar store, which saves on shipping costs. I need to make another on-line purchase very soon.
What goes around....
“bringing new growth where there was none and offering new possibilities for workers”
Lost count how many times I heard that statement from Plant Managers and VP’s and then my job was offshored. Fact is Amazon is just a Warehouse distributor. FIFO, stick it on a UPS truck. Not much opportunity other than for a younger guy with a healthy back. Definitely Women and and older folks affected.
For fresh product and meats try jet.com
it is worth watching the movie, “Obsolete” free on Amazon.
It is contradictory that Amazon carries it...however, it may encourage us to us less self checkout lines...less Amazon...maybe...it is worth viewing and will make you think.
have you been to a mall lately? since the push for inner city blacks to move out to suburbs things have changed in some peoples minds...
The ONLY time I will use a self-checkout line is if I am in a rush AND there are long lines at the open tills.
They won’t give me a discount for doing some of their work, I won’t do it. It’s as simple as that.
The company behind the clothing store The Limited has closed all of its brick and mortar stores and has gone exclusively online. Not sure how that’s going to work.
When I was a child and young man back in 1949-1960, we drove 70 miles to Denver to shop three times a year. Montgomery Ward, May D&F and other similar stores were wonderlands. Parking was easy, the stores were clean with great selections and the sales people nice. On a smaller scale, our local J.C. Penny, Gamble’s, and family owned stores filled the bill. These stores had close, convenient parking, were clean with good selections and the sales people nice.
Over the next 20 years, City and State taxes boosted prices, undesirable elements moved in and the stores were no longer so clean, the sales people ere not so nice, parking not so convenient and you could get robbed walking to or from your car.
Like you, I can’t buy fresh groceries on line and clothing is difficult. Other items are usually best found with the mouse. It is 120 miles from my door to a pair of work pants otherwise.
Went to the mall Saturday, needed some shirts. Bealls was crowded, had a nice selection that appeals to folk down here. Went through Sears, dreary, clothing looks like the same stuff from 10 years ago.
You are helping to keep their costs down which allows them to be more competitive. A good thing for customers. Just because there is no direct discount does not mean it does not benefit you. I use self whenever possible.
The Brennan brothers created in Sears and Monky Wards the culture that they were great in the 50s with many levels of middle management so they would be great in the future with the same model.
Martinez and every Sears CEO after Brennan had great ideas. The people at the bottom had great ideas. Excessive layers of middle management got pay and status based on the size of their head count and budget.
Middle management sabotaged and refused to implement every great idea that came from both the top and bottom because it would mean change that endangered their comfy spot in the status quo.
Sears bought Prodigy. Some people at Sears had great ideas to turn Prodigy into online sales giant. Middle Management destroyed the idea ... and Prodigy.
Martinez and people at the bottom (of which I was part) had great ideas to modernize the inventory replenishment system. Middle management blocked every single change.
As RNC Treasurer and in control of RNC money Brennan did the same thing with the party. In the daddy Bush era when Republicans were trying to figure out where to go post-Reagan, Brennan financially supported House Minority Leader Bob Michels in saying the Republicans would always be a minority party in the House and Senate. Therefore the Republicans should support Democrats who gave them crumbs from the table like Al-the-Pal Dixon of Brennan's and Bob Michels' Illinois.
The first TeaParty/Deplorable action was defeating Al-the-Pal in the Dem Primary so a Deplorable could clean the swamp 6 years later.
More than any single person, Brennan is to blame for IL being blue.
Sears sells Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker for about $900 million
Chinese made crap has no sizing regs. I buy shoes on line, Clark’s or Fit Flops clogs, as they have orthotics built in, as they are the only place I can get a 5.5. Other than that I wear only T’s and Jeans, jeans come from Salvation Army with price tags still on them. Fraction of cost. I don’t wear 25 yr old street walker clothes, I’m 68. My dress clothes are approaching a decade old. I only buy classics.
These stores did themselves in with PC men in women’s bathrooms and carrying only clothes for the under 25 and to ethnic crowd. When you don’t carry for Church going 60 yr old’s you lose money. When you locate your stores in high crime areas you lose money.
Then come gov’t regs. When I moved to the country, a trip to the mall was then a 2 hr round trip issue, no real accommodations for handicapped. Add in the high cost of badly made products and you do your self in. I use to sew, I know badly made products when I see them. If you want holes in your jeans, get a razor blade, and a cheap pair, and slash them then wash them. Instead of paying 100 for a pair. Same goes for shoes. Don’t carry my size why should I shop your store. Why should a pair of Polo shorts cost $60 when it cost maybe $10 to make them? That’s at the Navy Exchange BTW. Cheap crap at high prices.
Christmas is another issue, It’s CHRISTMAS not happy holiday or season’s greetings. I boycott those stores.
Yup, that was the last gasp of breath from a dying company.
Just got Amazon Prime.
Not sure I’ll ever leave the house again to shop.
What is going to happen to stores like Hobby Lobby? I bought fabric, needles, and yarn there, and a few other things not in great quantity, but they had what I wanted. Chinese crap crept in and quality declined. Because of crime I stopped shopping many places. Hancock’s is another high crime store. Same goes for all stores except grocery. To much catering to box products, and fancy exotic foods few people eat.
Even there I have issues, they have no idea how to store produce. Green Beans are very temp sensitive. They don’t take cold well, cool/moist yes, cold NO. Cost of produce is another issue. I’ve lived long enough that fresh was not always available, hot house crap was what you got in the winter. I use more road stands for my produce now. May pay a little more but product is fresher. Those misters are a turn off. Yucky picking up wet produce and it goes bad faster. Stock less and more often.
Stop putting stuff in super size bottles, seniors cook for 1 or 2 at most. We don’t need a year’s supply of somethings that goes bad before we can use it up. Lots of stuff we used has disappeared off the shelves to be replaced by higher priced less effective products. Why is a gallon of bleach nearly $4 now, it’s just bleach. I don’t need 5 different cleaning products to clean a bathroom, just bleach and window cleaner.
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