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PT6A posted:Is there an equivalent in the US to Canadian Tire? They have a bunch of toys and stuff, but also other things which are useful. As much as they piss me off sometimes, there's a lot of stuff you can buy there if you need it. In the PNW there’s a store called Fred Meyer that is a large grocery store with clothing, toys, home/garden, electronics (I bought my Switch there) and jewelry. Is that close to what you’re thinking about?
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Dec 20, 2017 17:59
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PT6A posted:Is there an equivalent in the US to Canadian Tire? They have a bunch of toys and stuff, but also other things which are useful. As much as they piss me off sometimes, there's a lot of stuff you can buy there if you need it. Walmart
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Dec 20, 2017 18:00
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Canadian Tire and Fred Meyer are fairly analogous.
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Dec 20, 2017 18:00
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PT6A posted:Is there an equivalent in the US to Canadian Tire? They have a bunch of toys and stuff, but also other things which are useful. As much as they piss me off sometimes, there's a lot of stuff you can buy there if you need it. I don't know man, Canadian Tire has always seemed like just a Walmart or Kmart with more of an automotive/outdoors section and a bit less electronics to me.
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Dec 20, 2017 18:32
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Canadian tire doesn't have food, other than some snacks by the register.
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Dec 20, 2017 18:34
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go to Canadian tire and buy ketchup and/or all dressed chips
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Dec 20, 2017 18:45
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Baronjutter posted:Canadian tire doesn't have food, other than some snacks by the register. Walmart didn't originally carry much more food than you'd get at a convenience store either, they used the call the ones with an actual grocery section "Super Walmart"
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Dec 20, 2017 19:29
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I miss Fred Meyer since I've moved out of the PNW
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Dec 20, 2017 19:35
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Farm and fleet and fleet farm are canadian tire like chains in the Midwest.
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Dec 20, 2017 20:58
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I've become very acquainted with Tractor Supply since moving to the county and keeping chickens.
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Dec 20, 2017 21:06
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Rural Kings are good too if you like Tractor Supply
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Dec 21, 2017 03:45
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BarbarianElephant posted:Making a special trip to a toy store doesn't make sense in modern parenting. If the kids want something specific, order it online. If you just want to reward them by saying they can pick something out, the supermarket has toys. Why would you subject yourself to a big box store full of toys and the inevitable tantrums? RIP Toys'r'Us. This thought is still such a bummer. Like, going to the toy store, even knowing I wouldn't really get anything, was fun when I was a kid. You could see stuff and just wonder and aspire. Now that I have a little 6 month old dude, I feel bad that there's not really any toy or novelty stores to really go to aside from Walmart and Target, which are both pretty soulless and depressing compared to the real thing. Like, when I was a kid we had our independent candy/novelty store in town that I would go to after church every week. The shop owner knew who we were and we'd have a good time just checking stuff out. Maybe we'd only leave with s bubble gum cigar or candy bar, but it was just such a near experience that I'm not sure my son will ever really have.
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Dec 21, 2017 04:42
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Kind of weird that Toys R Us is doing bad even while Disney is revving the Star Wars/MCU merchandising machine into overdrive, but it sounds like Babies R Us has turned into a boat anchor, and the rest of the toy business is getting drained by video games, which Toys R Us was once the biggest retailer of, but has since lost most of their market share.
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Dec 21, 2017 04:59
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OneEightHundred posted:Kind of weird that Toys R Us is doing bad even while Disney is revving the Star Wars/MCU merchandising machine into overdrive, but it sounds like Babies R Us has turned into a boat anchor, and the rest of the toy business is getting drained by video games, which Toys R Us was once the biggest retailer of, but has since lost most of their market share. Babies R Us has been the only thing keeping Toys R Us alive. I worked for TRU in 2000 when Walmart and Target announced they were going to drastically expand their toy sections at the same time they announced their ill-fated Amazon partnership. That was the beginning of the slow death of TRU.
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Dec 21, 2017 05:37
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PT6A posted:Is there an equivalent in the US to Canadian Tire? They have a bunch of toys and stuff, but also other things which are useful. As much as they piss me off sometimes, there's a lot of stuff you can buy there if you need it. I don't think there is anything in the world equivalent to Canadian Tire and their money.
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Dec 21, 2017 11:59
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PT6A posted:What are the stores like in places where they're successful? I feel like an issue with the North American incarnation is they're all giant, standalone stores located in the precise middle of Assfuck Nowhere. You can't just pop in as you're doing something else, and it lacks the versatility of something like WalMart or Ikea that makes it a worthwhile place to bother going. Well, Iceland is probably unique in that Reykjavik is our only real city (330,000 people total, 180k of which are here in the capital). Toys R Us is located in the bottom of one of our only 3 skyscrapers, along with a Pier 1 copy store, and a shoe outlet. It shares a parking lot with a pseudo strip mall that contains a grocery store, furniture store, hardware store, emergency clinic, bakery, pharmacy, a restaurant and pet store. It's also literally next to the 2nd largest mall in Iceland, where one can find a full on indoor mall experience (complete with cinema and indoor tiny roller coaster/arcade/bumper-cars). This means that the TRU can be visited at the same time as practically any other shopping experience, with free parking. Also not unique to TRU (nearly any store people shop for gifts at will have it too) but the TRU has a wrapping station at the end which is so nice. Free paper, tape and ribbons, so one can even wrap the gift while there, and ask for a gift sticker at the cash register that enables easy exchanges without the receipt for the recipient. I love taking my son, because while yes it's a retail hell hole, hello, 3 year olds love a huge space filled to the brim with toys. edit: realized I took a photo of the parking lot in front of the TRU when at my son's dentist on the 14th floor. I'm directly above TRU itself, but you can see what the area looks like. As far as locations go, this one is p much perfect for a TRU. If it can't succeed here, there probably isn't anywhere it can. 
poopinmymouth fucked around with this message at 12:15 on Dec 21, 2017 |
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Dec 21, 2017 12:08
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PT6A posted:What are the stores like in places where they're successful? I feel like an issue with the North American incarnation is they're all giant, standalone stores located in the precise middle of Assfuck Nowhere. You can't just pop in as you're doing something else, and it lacks the versatility of something like WalMart or Ikea that makes it a worthwhile place to bother going. The one I was talking about, is right next to Rosengårdscentret, some 150 stores and 140000 sqm, it's a standalone technically speaking, it does share parking and if you use the interactive maps inside the mall, it'll show you a route to it. The mall does have another two things attached like that, a McDonalds and a cinema, it is the retail mecca for some 300.000 people. Oddly enough, the mall actually has a toy store inside it, both are pretty much always full.
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Dec 21, 2017 16:01
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FCKGW posted:Babies R Us has been the only thing keeping Toys R Us alive. TRU is a little different - it's actually been turning a profit recently but corporate is so weighed down by debt from these BS predatory management companies that only exist to squeeze every last cent out of whatever businiess they gobble up. Hasn't stopped corporate from approving 16 million dollars worth of bonuses to *17* executives Edit - ok recently it looks like they've been bleeding money, I'm trying to find where I saw at one point that they may have been OK if it wasn't for their debt burdon. Dignity Van Houten fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Dec 21, 2017 |
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Dec 21, 2017 16:40
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Taking your kid to a toy store is a chance for them to see and play with toys in person. A grocery store isn't going to have the same variety.
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Dec 21, 2017 21:06
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Not sure if anyone's mentioned this, but one of British Columbia's retail computer/computer parts store chains, NCIX, had a massive decline over the past couple years, culminating in them selling off multiple warehouses and locations at a loss a few months ago and finally now completely folding due to low retail demand on top of a pile of mismanagement issues. Thankfully another retail/warehouse/online computer store chain is moving out west of the Rockies and is building several locations in Vancouver (presumably to scoop up the business hole left by ten NCIX stores shuttering in the span of four months), so those of us who still like going to the retail outlet to buy things can still do so. Some of you may recognize the name NCIX - it's where LinusTechTips originated. Coincidentally, NCIX started going downhill around the same time LTT split off from them... Their website is still up, but they are completely insolvent. Court records show that they filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. (Dear MemoryExpress -- please build a store in Victoria while you're out in Vancouver building like, four.)
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Dec 21, 2017 21:35
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I love Memory Express. It's been my goto computer shop since I moved to Calgary. Shame about NCIX, though  I got my first computer from them.
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Dec 21, 2017 21:44
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A couple years ago I had some computer friends make up a parts list for a new computer. Pricing it out in the US ended up being about 40%-60% cheaper than in Canada. It was insane. Ended up shipping the parts to a friend in seattle who put it together and then put the computer on a ferry as cargo and I picked it up on the other side. Even after duty and horrible currency conversion it was still a huge savings. Why are the same parts made in the same factories so much more expensive in Canada than the US?
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Dec 21, 2017 21:55
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It's getting better. It's basically just convert USD -> CAD and add sales tax nowadays. And yeah MemoryExpress is great. If they built a store in Victoria I wouldn't need to buy everything online anymore.
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Dec 21, 2017 22:05
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I worked for Fry's Electronics for 8 years and that place is just straight up dead now. No one in the stores at all during their busiest times. I'm sure their online sales have boomed since they seem to have gotten their site working finally. I wonder why they haven't closed any stores yet? When I started working there they were opening 1-2 stores a year, the last store there opened was in 2004 and it's just been in steep decline ever since. I do know that they own their own land and buildings and the Fry's brothers are rich as gently caress, but idgi.
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Dec 21, 2017 22:42
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FCKGW posted:I worked for Fry's Electronics for 8 years and that place is just straight up dead now. No one in the stores at all during their busiest times. I'm sure their online sales have boomed since they seem to have gotten their site working finally. The only Fry's near me took over an old furniture store and didn't bother redo any of the interior so it's this amazing 90's time-capsule of tray ceilings, decorative tile floors, and assorted columns. I think setting up in an actual crypt would feel less foreboding.
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Dec 21, 2017 23:16
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It seems to me that most of these retail stores that go bust also just happen to have some very rich owners, executives, investors, and lenders. It seems everyone involved got their cut at the expense of the business itself. Am I wrong?
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Dec 21, 2017 23:40
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anonumos posted:It seems to me that most of these retail stores that go bust also just happen to have some very rich owners, executives, investors, and lenders. It seems everyone involved got their cut at the expense of the business itself. Am I wrong? No, that's very often exactly what happens. gently caress private equity forever basically.
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Dec 21, 2017 23:41
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there wolf posted:The only Fry's near me took over an old furniture store and didn't bother redo any of the interior so it's this amazing 90's time-capsule of tray ceilings, decorative tile floors, and assorted columns. I think setting up in an actual crypt would feel less foreboding.
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Dec 22, 2017 00:32
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OneEightHundred posted:There's an international grocery near me that took over a Circuit City and didn't bother remodeling anything, so it still has the Circuit City entrance and an area with a low ceiling and tiny lights where the TV showroom used to be, it's great. I love when poo poo like this happens. There was some lovely chain mexican place that went out of business and a korean family turned it into a sushi place. The interior was all done up to look like a mexican village with false building fronts and tin roofs and all that. With a little creativity they dressed it up to look like a japanese village instead and now it's the best sushi place in town.
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Dec 22, 2017 01:48
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There's an entire subreddit dedicated to businesses that took over former Pizza Hut buildings. https://www.reddit.com/r/FormerPizzaHuts/ 
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Dec 22, 2017 03:26
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There's an old taco bell near my house that has a Thai restaurant in it that, inexplicably, isn't called Thaiko Bell. The papa johns next door just went under too so I'm super hopeful for a tapas john's or something to open up in its stead.
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Dec 22, 2017 03:46
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Not Fooling Anyone is a pretty great website compendium of all of these sort of Dimple Donuts/Veggie Castle/etc. locations.
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Dec 22, 2017 03:58
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anonumos posted:It seems to me that most of these retail stores that go bust also just happen to have some very rich owners, executives, investors, and lenders. It seems everyone involved got their cut at the expense of the business itself. Am I wrong? Isn't that why you run a business?
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Dec 22, 2017 05:51
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anonumos posted:It seems to me that most of these retail stores that go bust also just happen to have some very rich owners, executives, investors, and lenders. It seems everyone involved got their cut at the expense of the business itself. Am I wrong? Welcome to private equity! If you really want to hate, look into what happened to Hostess. Continental Baking Company owned the brand from 1930 to 1995, when they were acquired by Interstate Baking Company. IBC ran the company into the ground to the point that they declared Chapter 11 in 2004. They stayed in bankruptcy for 5 full years, before emerging as a private company mostly owned by equity companies and the unionized workers who made contract concessions for equity. By the end of 2011 they were back in bankruptcy and quit paying their pensions, breaking their union contract. It was later discovered that over the previous year, while pleading poverty against their pension obligations, many of the execs received raises of as much as 80%. The company threatened layoffs over the course of 2012, ending in their proposed contract with the Baker's Union, which included more than 25% pay and benefit cuts, being rejected by 92% of the voting members. After that, just the usual corporate piracy. The whole point of bringing the company out of bankruptcy in 2009 was to sell off their brands, let the execs take their golden parachutes (hence the raises, as that will change their end compensation), and enrich financiers.
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Dec 22, 2017 06:21
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Owlofcreamcheese posted:Isn't that why you run a business? Running a business is one thing. Running that poo poo into the ground with debt burdens you feather your own bed with is an other entirely.
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Dec 22, 2017 06:28
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OneEightHundred posted:There's an international grocery near me that took over a Circuit City and didn't bother remodeling anything, so it still has the Circuit City entrance and an area with a low ceiling and tiny lights where the TV showroom used to be, it's great. A few months ago, I had a similar experience checking out a furniture place that was once a circuit city. Same entrance, same low ceiling where the tvs used to be, ect. It was weird but also awesome.
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Dec 22, 2017 06:33
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Liquid Communism posted:Welcome to private equity! The best part is how they blamed the Union for the bankruptcy, saying their pay and benefits were so lavish they drove the company broke. People bought it hook, line, and sinker.
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Dec 22, 2017 11:18
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Our Fry's was purpose built, if I remember right. Our theme is Oxnard, but the decor is more like "generic coffeeshop with a Fry's built around it".
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Dec 22, 2017 12:05
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The closest one to me is a giant Aztec temple that I am going to turn into my lair when climate change collapses society.
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Dec 22, 2017 12:09
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RandomPauI posted:Our Fry's was purpose built, if I remember right. Our theme is Oxnard, but the decor is more like "generic coffeeshop with a Fry's built around it". The Oxnard store is the only Fry’s built in a strip mall. All other stores are stand alone. It’s also the worst performing store in the company lol
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Dec 22, 2017 20:32
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