Price and distance are the most important factors for me-I work in construction and jobs are scarce for yet another year-ever since the economy tanked and stayed down-this rural area is very dependent on snowbirds for income in winter, but they can no longer afford the trip from up north in their RVs, or the rent of a cabin for the winter-no snowbirds means no money for owners of RV parks and cabins, restaurants, guest ranches-and that means they can’t add that patio, paint that room or put in new tile, so we are all screwed...
I wear jeans and boots to work-they get rough use-I can buy all the jeans in my size that I need online for $10.00 a pair, and shirts for even less-so why drive to a discount chain store where I might find one or two pairs of jeans my size for $12.99 if I’m lucky? I do buy good brand name work boots, but I get those at overstock.com for at least 1/3 less than retail-I’ve done all my shopping for presents for several years online, too...
Smart; I don’t know how retailers will ever win you back. They face a very basic dilemma in how much they can stock, given that some stuff will just sit there.
Years ago I went to a new Army Navy store on our main avenue; I was curious as to how much they could fit in what was really a small storefront. Inside I asked about some gear I needed for camping, and the owner plopped down some catalogs and said she’d order whatever I needed (they had very little inventory - both variety & quantity. I politely told her I’d order it myself and left; within a year they were closed.