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http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/list-63-sears-kmart-stores-closing-january-50919721 I don't even know whether this is yesterday's Sears closing news or today's. The news here isn't so much that a lot of Sears are going to close, or even that all Sears are going to close. I imagine that is pretty much guaranteed. My real question is, how big of a ripple effect will this have? How many malls are going to close down when Sears closes? Obviously a healthy mall isn't going to care. But there are a lot of ailing malls that are going to get knocked out by this. But how big of an effect will it have? That is the big question.
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Nov 4, 2017 23:49
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I stopped by a mall to meet an old work buddy for lunch this week. The door at JC Pennies didn't work. This was an old lunch haunt of ours. The door hasn't worked in 3 years. 3 years with your doors not working.  The sooner these places are out of business and replaced by companies that don't suck the better.
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Nov 5, 2017 00:28
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fishmech posted:The normal business hours of the store are during the day. The poster deliberately avoids the normal business hours because he "doesn't want to be around people". Then he gets mad that when he goes when no one else goes, it's staffed for nobody else to be going, and he refuses to use the self-checkout instead just because. Uh, sure, whatever you say. Crow Jane posted:I'm amazed every time I remember Kmart is still hanging on somehow Every Kmart I've been to in the last twenty years has been like something out of the Twilight Zone. It's a great example of a store failing to maintain branding - nobody shops at Kmart because nobody knows what Kmart sells. Toothpaste? Underwear? It is a mystery.
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Nov 5, 2017 00:29
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Magic Hate Ball posted:Every Kmart I've been to in the last twenty years has been like something out of the Twilight Zone. It's a great example of a store failing to maintain branding - nobody shops at Kmart because nobody knows what Kmart sells. Toothpaste? Underwear? It is a mystery. I imagine it to be an even sadder version of a dollar store, but more expensive.
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Nov 5, 2017 00:32
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PT6A posted:I imagine it to be an even sadder version of a dollar store, but more expensive. It's great because they're always visually flagging, too. Half the lights are out, a bunch of shelves are empty, there's discarded boxes piled up in the corners. I know there was a time when they were a legit store because it was a sensation when they opened a Big K in my town in the 90s but it's nearly impossible to imagine what it was like when Kmart was a place to be. edit: related - here's an archive of K-Mart in-store music tapes from the early 90s. Mmm, muzak. Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Nov 5, 2017 |
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Nov 5, 2017 00:36
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Does Kmart still have "cafes"? If so, that's got to be one of the saddest dining experiences a human can have
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Nov 5, 2017 00:39
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Magic Hate Ball posted:It's great because they're always visually flagging, too. Half the lights are out, a bunch of shelves are empty, there's discarded boxes piled up in the corners. I know there was a time when they were a legit store because it was a sensation when they opened a Big K in my town in the 90s but it's nearly impossible to imagine what it was like when Kmart was a place to be. The old school "Blue Light Specials" was hilarious to see happen.
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Nov 5, 2017 00:41
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K-Mart was just Wal-Mart before Wal-Mart was something you could go to in most of the country. And the Big K-Mart branding things were just the same as when they used to call Wal-Marts with the grocery section in a "Super Wal-Mart" before that became the default style of a Wal-Mart.
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Nov 5, 2017 01:00
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I kinda skimmed the last few pages, did anyone propose a restaurant that is "open" 24 hours but you have to cook your own food between midnight and 6 am
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Nov 5, 2017 01:10
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Polygynous posted:I kinda skimmed the last few pages, did anyone propose a restaurant that is "open" 24 hours but you have to cook your own food between midnight and 6 am Those are called gas stations.
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Nov 5, 2017 01:14
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got any sevens posted:https://www.axios.com/an-unanswered-conundrum-why-are-employers-not-raising-wages-2505931443.html?utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=organic Magic Hate Ball posted:edit: related - here's an archive of K-Mart in-store music tapes from the early 90s. Mmm, muzak.
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Nov 5, 2017 02:02
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hobbesmaster posted:Those are called gas stations. around here I'm pretty sure they staff the kitchen round the clock, some of them anyway. yeah, gas stations.  e: for some definition of "kitchen", but anyway Polygynous fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Nov 5, 2017 |
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Nov 5, 2017 02:15
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Polygynous posted:I kinda skimmed the last few pages, did anyone propose a restaurant that is "open" 24 hours but you have to cook your own food between midnight and 6 am  OneEightHundred posted:One thing that continues to baffle me is that 15 years ago, most stores were playing 90's soft rock and pop rock for their in-store music, and today, they're still playing mostly 90's soft rock and pop rock. The people who shop at stores that play 90s soft rock are the same people who shopped at stores that played 90s soft rock, probably. It's funny listening to the Kmart tapes because it's so easy to forget that there was a time when actual Dawn of the Dead muzak muzak used to be everywhere, I mean it was really a cultural phenomenon, but it's been replaced by forgettable - but, more importantly, recognizable - pop and soft rock songs. When I was a kid I remember when a real song would come on the in-store speakers, because it was a break from the purposefully anonymous smooth jazz and synth music, but now every store has its own carefully cultivated and managed Spotify playlist that you can Shazaam and purchase.
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Nov 5, 2017 02:29
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poo poo, that does sound like a seinfeld episode ... hell, a bunch of techbro ideas sound like kramer business plans. less plausible, even.
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Nov 5, 2017 03:05
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The funniest part of the Mejiers stupidity is the fact that Mejiers is basically Walmart but for food. The fact that you expect good service at one at any time of the day is nuts.
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Nov 5, 2017 03:31
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Magic Hate Ball posted:The people who shop at stores that play 90s soft rock are the same people who shopped at stores that played 90s soft rock, probably. I could believe a lot of possible explanations. It could be that the 90's were just an unusually good decade for inoffensive shopping music, it could be that the stores are about as motivated to update their music playlists as they are to upgrade their POS systems, but the most dangerous explanation is that younger customers don't shop there any more.
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Nov 5, 2017 04:01
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OneEightHundred posted:Yeah but I mean cases like mall ambiance, groceries, department stores, Wal-Mart, Target, etc. that should ideally have a fairly broad demographic slice. I'd assume that after 15 years, their playlists would move forward 15 years as people in their ideal demographic aged out and younger customers aged in, but they've barely budged. Are you sure the playlists aren't mixing in 2000s stuff now (and in the past, mixing in later 80s stuff then)? Honestly a lot of that sort of music tends to blend together as long as the changes are done gradually. Consider the situations with oldies radio. Originally, those stations got really big in the late 70s/early 80s mostly just playing 50s and 60s music. Listen to the same stations still advertising as oldies radio now and they'll mostly be playing 80s and early-mid 90s music, with a greatly decreased selection of 50s-70s music (though they'll always keep some Beatles, some Elvis, etc on the playlists, it wouldn't sound right without it). It's not like that happened overnight though, they slowly slid forward 30 years in the music timeline while 40 years passed in actual time. Listening from year to year you'd barely notice a difference.
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Nov 5, 2017 04:17
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I haven't been to a Walmart in forever and Target doesn't play music but I've only ever heard Despacito in stores so I think there's definitely been some updating.
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Nov 5, 2017 04:32
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glowing-fish posted:http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/list-63-sears-kmart-stores-closing-january-50919721 The mall near my hometown is going to get nailed by this. Sears was one of their big anchors from the get go, and it's been flagging for years now. The mall was built in 1989, and was like glorious 90's heaven for about a decade. Fountains, food court, arcades, several anchors, toy stores, book stores, electronics, video games, etc. Now it has like...a gym, a discount shoe store... they closed off the food court into an H&M around 2000. It's just depressing.
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Nov 5, 2017 11:43
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SimonCat posted:I"m sorry you live in such a lovely area. Luckily Hy-Vee still has good customer service. Yup. I work overnights, so I do most of my shopping at odd hours, and Hy-Vee has earned my business by having help available whenever the store is open, which is 24/7. Polygynous posted:I kinda skimmed the last few pages, did anyone propose a restaurant that is "open" 24 hours but you have to cook your own food between midnight and 6 am I know, it's apparently thought crime to expect a major retailer to be able to effectively take their customers' money during their stated hours of operation. That said, I'd love a place that gave me access to a commercial kitchen on late nights. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 12:16 on Nov 5, 2017 |
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Nov 5, 2017 11:58
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Liquid Communism posted:Yup. I work overnights, so I do most of my shopping at odd hours, and Hy-Vee has earned my business by having help available whenever the store is open, which is 24/7. how bourgie of you, forums poster liquid capitalism
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Nov 5, 2017 12:16
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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blowfish posted:how bourgie of you, forums poster liquid capitalism Yeah, pretty much. On the other hand, HyVee pays well for retail and offers benefits, so I don't particularly feel bad about it enabling the shift work I have to do to stay solvent.
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Nov 5, 2017 12:21
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Snorkzilla posted:I don't know how I can make it any more clear that their checkout wasn't working properly. And that the guy who is paid to attend it didn't really want to focus on helping me get through whatever the problem was with the scale. https://twitter.com/dril/status/528316291564961793
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Nov 5, 2017 13:31
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a minimum wage worker unconcerned with your problem?? well i never,
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Nov 5, 2017 15:50
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Liquid Communism posted:Yeah, pretty much. On the other hand, HyVee pays well for retail and offers benefits, so I don't particularly feel bad about it enabling the shift work I have to do to stay solvent. They also go out of their way to hire people that otherwise couldn't get a job, which owns.
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Nov 5, 2017 16:08
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Xae posted:They also go out of their way to hire people that otherwise couldn't get a job, which owns. Employee-owned, too, which likely has a lot to do with all of the above.
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Nov 5, 2017 16:19
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Maybe we need to face the real fact here: the midwest sucks.
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Nov 5, 2017 17:12
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Liquid Communism posted:I know, it's apparently thought crime to expect a major retailer to be able to effectively take their customers' money during their stated hours of operation. The store was perfectly capable of taking his money. He however was not capable of not being an over-demanding prick.
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Nov 5, 2017 19:02
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fishmech posted:The store was perfectly capable of taking his money. He however was not capable of not being an over-demanding prick. Look. There is no objective standard by which a store policy of either providing or not providing manned checkouts during opening hours is right or wrong. There's only a standard of which is more profitable. A lazy goon voting with his wallet by instead going to a store providing manned checkouts during opening hours is literally the platonic ideal of capitalism.
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Nov 5, 2017 19:09
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I don't think I've ever used a self-checkout machine that lets you do more than two bags at once so I'm not even sure how it would've been feasible.
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Nov 5, 2017 19:10
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Magic Hate Ball posted:I don't think I've ever used a self-checkout machine that lets you do more than two bags at once so I'm not even sure how it would've been feasible. There's tons of stores out there where the self checkout machine has a big old belt and bagging area (or sometimes a little belt and a big bagging area) just like a manned checkout has. Only instead of the belt being before the things get scanned, it's all placed after the scanning area, to make the most efficient use of the space.    A side benefit of these designs is that the area the food waits in before being bagged has no weight sensors, so you don't need to worry about taking bags and items out to put in the cart causing problems, weight/size verification gets done after placing the items onto the first belt area. fishmech fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Nov 5, 2017 |
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Nov 5, 2017 19:17
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That makes slightly more sense. edit: this is about as fancy as it gets here: 
Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Nov 5, 2017 |
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Nov 5, 2017 19:20
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the conveyor belt self-checkouts are my favorite but only giant has those here. shoprite has 1 and the rest are the tiny ones, along with target and walmart. I hate the tiny ones. but I love self-checkout and whenever I need help I like to be kind to the people helping me. 
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Nov 5, 2017 19:39
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Nov 5, 2017 20:38
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Magic Hate Ball posted:That makes slightly more sense. Yeah, those are the only ones I've ever seen around here. No way could I do a full shopping trip on one.
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Nov 5, 2017 21:18
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JnnyThndrs posted:Yeah, those are the only ones I've ever seen around here. No way could I do a full shopping trip on one. Maybe there are regional differences, but at least with all the machines I have used in the Midwest, once an item is weighed and verified, it can be removed from the scale. Meaning, scan and fill two bags on the scale, remove the two bags from the scale, repeat. Probably not the most efficient for large purchases, but doable.
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Nov 5, 2017 23:18
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JnnyThndrs posted:Yeah, those are the only ones I've ever seen around here. No way could I do a full shopping trip on one. The Safeways here (bay area, ca) are utter garbage though, there's like 1-2 full-cashiers even during peak hours, and because you can't buy liquor at self-checkouts, those lines get utterly buttfucked lining up to the back of the store backing up the entire front walkway and aisles. But self-checkout line is just as bad. We have 8 self-checkout stations here, anywhere from 2-5 are usually broken at any given time and the line for self-checkout also extends far into the aisle and can easily be a 15 minute wait. The store is chronically understaffed for the mass volume of people, and the employees are burnt out and dgaf (understandbly) so there's never any help on the floor and rarely much help at the self-checkout since the one guy there is running around like a headless chicken all over trying to put out fires. It's almost incredible how poorly run the store is, especially since they did that fancy faux-upscale remodelling about 5 years ago so "looks like a nice" store but isn't at all. Contrast to the Trader Joes where they'll have like all registers going almost all day long and rarely more than a 5 minute wait (usually like 1-3) and all the employees are paid well and well-staffed so they're generally pleasant. I much prefer to do as much shoping there as possible just because its so much more pleasant (and often a lot cheaper, Safeway is kind of expensive as gently caress unless what you want is on sale).
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Nov 5, 2017 23:28
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I imagine grocery shopping would be far easier to get through if they just had more staff.
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Nov 5, 2017 23:30
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Swap_File posted:Maybe there are regional differences, but at least with all the machines I have used in the Midwest, once an item is weighed and verified, it can be removed from the scale. Meaning, scan and fill two bags on the scale, remove the two bags from the scale, repeat. Probably not the most efficient for large purchases, but doable. Ours don’t do that, if you take your bag off it screams at you.
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Nov 5, 2017 23:31
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Xaris posted:
Safeway went utterly to poo poo when that Romney-esque private capital firm bought them a few years ago, the updated stores have a terrible selection of actual food. All the effort is toward coffee bars, fancy deli items and endless rows of wine; the food is shoved into a tiny section in the middle. And, as you mentioned, staffing is horrid, there is never enough checkers no matter when you go. My parents live in Santa Cruz where there are literally no supermarkets but Safeway. There's Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, but if you want to do a complete shopping trip, you're stuck with Safeway. They were always a bit expensive, but much of the foodstuffs are 2x as much as the Winco I shop at, and the service is far worse.
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Nov 5, 2017 23:43
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