My wife and I pretty much lived by Costco. When we moved from Seattle to the sticks in central KY we went from having several Costcos within a half hour or less from our home to the nearest one being 90 minutes away. We still shop there, but we have to plan a little better.
But then we discovered Amazon and Prime. It took me a couple of years to figure out that though Costco had good stuff, Amazon had it in spades - with reviews. We still have the membership, but one of the driving factors is that we’ve been members since 1988, and in KY that is perceived as before the dawn of time.
And then I learned that my daughter that lives in Seattle no longer even goes to the grocery store. She does ALL of her shopping online, visiting food stores only when she’s already out and about and needs something odd.
That discovery, for me, was like, in the late 90’s, being at my daughter’s varsity high school basketball practice and seeing tons of CD’s and CD players scattered on the bleachers and noticing that every single one was home recorded - and what that meant for the recording industry.
I think a critical mass day is coming, where shopping malls are going to start closing en-mass. And most other brick and mortars as well. The only thing left will be stuff people can walk to from their home, or congregate, or need to be supplied locally and face to face (starbucks, nurseries, barber shops, ephemeral goods). And once tech allows reliable “work from home”, well that exacerbates the situation.
Yeah. I’m in a busy area. Have two Costco within 10 or so minutes from me. Found that some stores don’t have everything I’m looking for. I go to the one for gasoline and a certain nitrates tree ham and another because it is closer. (The town that has no gasoline bans it there for some reason)
I buy groceries myself. I want to buy fresh good looking produce and meat. I pick and chose.
I can’t eat wheat and found a very good rice pasta at Amazon. So I do buy some foodstuffs there. On Gluten free flour I find it’s considerably cheaper at the grocery store than amazon. So like everything else you have to be a smart shopper.
We have a Costco in Evansville, not that impressed with them. I like Sam’s Club better. The brick and mortar stores are on the way out, Amazon has made a huge change in that. I never could understand the pull of Pier 1, it’s all crap to me. I guess I never felt the need to buy stuff to just set it around and then I have to dust it. It was all faddish, and I never had the money for fads.
One rea I really don’t see that happening is building materials/hardware.
I work for a supplier and spend lots of time in stores. When people need stuff, they need it now, not tomorrow.
I’ll be in a store for 4-5 hours and see some guys multiple times.
In my case, there’s a Home Depot two blocks from my house. If I’m on a project, I may make three trips to my supply cabinet, I mean Home Depot. I don’t keep extra stuff, I just go buy what I need when I need it.
Many of my companies products are available online but are wildly overpriced compared to store purchases. Plus, some of them are shipping hazards, which really kicks up the prices.
Let me ask you...
I know you live in the sticks. With your Amazon purchasing, does UPS/FEDEX deliver without any problems? We’re considering moving out a fair distance from civilization, and Amazon would be the go-to for many purchases.