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LeJackal posted:Wasn't Sears also uniquely poised in the 90's to supplement Amazon before it even existed, with a robust catalog and shipping infrastructure, financial/banking connections, and the added benefit of B&M facilities to bolster early internet service? I recall reading an article somewhere. Yup. There's an alternate universe out there in which Sears is taking over the world and Amazon.com is just a place for college kids to buy cheap textbooks.
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Jan 5, 2018 06:12
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LeJackal posted:Wasn't Sears also uniquely poised in the 90's to supplant Amazon before it even existed, with a robust catalog and shipping infrastructure, financial/banking connections, and the added benefit of B&M facilities to bolster early internet service? I recall reading an article somewhere. No. No they weren't. They had online shopping pretty early, but people just weren't all that interested in it. It worked pretty well for the time, and they generally kept up with other retail online storefronts until Eddie The Lunatic took over in the mid-2000s, but it just wasn't the same sort of things people were buying from Amazon at all. Like Sears' strength was in stuff like clothing, heavy appliances, TVs, tools, which Amazon wasn't even targeting in a serious way until pretty late. You could get pretty much anything you would order from the Sears catalogs on Sears online by 1999 or whatever, but it just didn't catch on. After all, you wanted to go see what that stuff looked like in the store, especially when you remember most people were on low res desktops with dialup internet and you weren't getting nice quality photos and references out of that. Part of why Amazon got so good was they initially focused on things that were cheap and simple to display and escribe online, and to ship. A book's a book, you don't need to check that a book can fit your house's hookups or that it'll fit right on you. Then they expanded to CDs and tapes, same thing. They expanded to video games and video game consoles, same thing. Didn't get into the really serious stuff until like 2003-2005, and it was long a minor part of what they did. (Also note that they'd had full on catalog access on a number of the early online dial-in services pre-internet, but since those weren't very popular with the mass public, their ordering through that wasn't very big either. And even if Sears had been the dominant online retailer in say 2001, well a lot of what's dominant then ain't dominant anymore, things really changed with broadband and EVERYBODY being online compared to before - we ain't using Netscape and AltaVista and AOL anymore...) fishmech fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Jan 5, 2018 |
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Jan 5, 2018 06:22
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The Sears in Fairfax, VA used to be on both levels of the mall. They have now moved to just the lower level. Upper half is empty.
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Jan 5, 2018 06:47
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Presto posted:The Sears in Fairfax, VA used to be on both levels of the mall. They have now moved to just the lower level. Upper half is empty. Same story for the Sears in the mall near me except the upper half got a tenant rather quickly.
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Jan 5, 2018 07:42
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The Sears I was in today was clean, well stocked, had several visible employees running registers and tidying up, and had a "now hiring" sign on the door. I might have found a wormhole to 1996.
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Jan 5, 2018 08:42
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I was surprised to find out our county had two k-marts. I've gone into the one in Camarillo and I don't know what keeps it afloat. The other one is in Santa Paula, and I can guess why it'd still be going. Santa Paula is about 15-20 minutes away from a Wal-Mart. And Fillmore is about 10-15 minutes away from Santa Paula. Denizens from those cities must figure the K-Mart is cheap, close, and good enough.
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Jan 5, 2018 09:26
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there wolf posted:The Sears I was in today was clean, well stocked, had several visible employees running registers and tidying up, and had a "now hiring" sign on the door.
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Jan 5, 2018 15:45
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RandomPauI posted:I was surprised to find out our county had two k-marts. I've gone into the one in Camarillo and I don't know what keeps it afloat. Everything else burned down  The only place I’ve seen a Kmart in the wild this decade was in Bullhead City, AZ. There’s the old building the Kmart in my town used to be in. It’s fenced off because Home Depot bought it, local hardware stores made old people throw a poo poo fit about it, and it’s been an empty big box store and parking lot ever since, gg old people. I thought capitalism meant you could buy land and do whatever you want with it, but I guess old people think it’s their right to dictate what becomes of the the old Kmart.
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Jan 5, 2018 17:44
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fishmech posted:No. No they weren't. They had online shopping pretty early, but people just weren't all that interested in it. It worked pretty well for the time, and they generally kept up with other retail online storefronts until Eddie The Lunatic took over in the mid-2000s, but it just wasn't the same sort of things people were buying from Amazon at all. Like Sears' strength was in stuff like clothing, heavy appliances, TVs, tools, which Amazon wasn't even targeting in a serious way until pretty late. You could get pretty much anything you would order from the Sears catalogs on Sears online by 1999 or whatever, but it just didn't catch on. At one point sears was the biggest mail order company to ever exist, there was at least some point in history "our stuff has to be seen in person" wasn't hurting them. Sears was selling mail order houses at one point.
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Jan 5, 2018 17:54
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Owlofcreamcheese posted:At one point sears was the biggest mail order company to ever exist, there was at least some point in history "our stuff has to be seen in person" wasn't hurting them. Sears was selling mail order houses at one point. That was also back when you couldn't just hop in the car and be at a Sears store or other such store within like an hour and go look - their catalog business was directly pushed aside by expanding their retail presence in tandem with automobile availability over the 20th century. Sears houses, for example, were discontinued shortly before WWII.
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Jan 5, 2018 18:00
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I still see Kmarts occasionally in rural Colorado and Wyoming. And there's one in Maui, of all places. 
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Jan 5, 2018 18:03
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Owlofcreamcheese posted:At one point sears was the biggest mail order company to ever exist, there was at least some point in history "our stuff has to be seen in person" wasn't hurting them. Sears was selling mail order houses at one point. Yes the economic trends from a loving century ago have such meaning today. Catalog sales declined enough that they stopped publishing the thing before Amazon was even created.
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Jan 5, 2018 18:08
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exploded mummy posted:Yes the economic trends from a loving century ago have such meaning today. Because of the shipping most likely. 2 day free shipping is dreamland compared to then. 4 to 6 weeks was the norm, and you had to pay. Why not go to the store instead?
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Jan 5, 2018 18:15
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Great Metal Jesus posted:I mean I feel like there's a whole lot of daylight between "you shouldn't jam nothing but an assload of carbs in your face on the daily" and the below: Sugar causes inflammation and the American diet is full of sugars, leading to lots of people experiencing chronic inflammation and chronic illness. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3492709/
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Jan 5, 2018 18:17
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Halloween Jack posted:It's the same in my town, inexplicably. Perhaps there's little enough competition in the appliance market; there's only one big hardware store. Nah. There's a JC Penny, Costco, and Home Depot, and that's just the one exit. Maybe they just have a pretty loyal base that's unwilling to go elsewhere for appliances. It's not like Home Depot or Costco is keeping themselves afloat off fridges and ovens.
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Jan 5, 2018 18:41
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FCKGW posted:Most of the Sears are closing in the next 3 weeks too, that's fast. I'm doubly unsure who's still using the auto part of one of them, since there's dozens of other places you could get your car serviced that presumably have better mechanics than a loving Sears. 1st AD posted:Sugar causes inflammation
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Jan 5, 2018 18:52
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I was in a Sears last Friday for shits and giggles and went directly to the tools section. It's practically non-existent now with only two aisles full of Craftsman hand tools that are overpriced junk (seriously, Kobalt and Husky tools at Lowe's and Home Depot are much better quality at a cheaper price, with lifetime guarantee, to boot), and one row of power tools, mainly mitre saws. A lot of the tools weren't even the common stuff you'd see like ratchets and sockets, but those gimmicky tools no one ever wants or uses and don't work. The rest of the old section (which used to be a quarter of the upper floor) was filled with Craftsman®©™-branded safety work shirts (those neon yellow and safety orange colors). I mean, there was a metric fucklooooaaad of those shirts as far as the eye can see. It was certainly something, but I guess they've gotta fill in all that empty space somehow to make the store look like it's got product. This same Sears just last year on Black Friday looked like a fully stocked, bright and clean store with holiday decorations everywhere that made at least some loyal customers want to come in and take a look around. Now it looks like the store that time and care forgot.
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Jan 5, 2018 19:08
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LeJackal posted:Wasn't Sears also uniquely poised in the 90's to supplant Amazon before it even existed, with a robust catalog and shipping infrastructure, financial/banking connections, and the added benefit of B&M facilities to bolster early internet service? I recall reading an article somewhere. As much as we all roll our eyes and make dismissive masturbatory gestures when managers drone on and on about Leadership it is a huge part of companies being successful or not. But yeah, every time you see Amazon anything it should be a Sears thing. But Sears went pants-on-head-retarded and Amazon rolled the 20.
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Jan 5, 2018 19:22
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You Are A Elf posted:I was in a Sears last Friday for shits and giggles and went directly to the tools section. It's practically non-existent now with only two aisles full of Craftsman hand tools that are overpriced junk (seriously, Kobalt and Husky tools at Lowe's and Home Depot are much better quality at a cheaper price, with lifetime guarantee, to boot), and one row of power tools, mainly mitre saws. A lot of the tools weren't even the common stuff you'd see like ratchets and sockets, but those gimmicky tools no one ever wants or uses and don't work. The rest of the old section (which used to be a quarter of the upper floor) was filled with Craftsman®©™-branded safety work shirts (those neon yellow and safety orange colors). The Sears I went in to a few weeks ago (which is one of the ones closing) had half their tool section dedicated to riding lawnmowers in an area of the country where lots don't exceed 10,000 sq. ft. What are you doing Sears?
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Jan 5, 2018 19:39
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My first real retail job was at K-Mart and they taught me a lot of important lessons. This was back when "blue light specials" were an insult. Too bad.
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Jan 5, 2018 19:48
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FCKGW posted:The Sears I went in to a few weeks ago (which is one of the ones closing) had half their tool section dedicated to riding lawnmowers in an area of the country where lots don't exceed 10,000 sq. ft. K-Mart in Manhattan has a garden department. Most people in Manhattan have a balcony at best, and if they are rich enough to have a real yard, it is teeny-tiny and a landscaping firm deals with it. Next to the garden department is row upon row of cheap junk food, still in health-obsessed Manhattan. If you ever feel overwhelmed by city life, go to the K-Mart in Astor Place for 50,000 sq feet of beautiful solitude in one of the most expensive areas of real estate in the world.
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Jan 5, 2018 19:48
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Sears was taken over by some Randian drone who basically completely destroyed the culture of the company right? It used to be a company's whose departments work together and instead he tried to make them compete and instead of creating innovation is create backstabbing.
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Jan 5, 2018 20:19
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Noctone posted:I still see Kmarts occasionally in rural Colorado and Wyoming. And there's one in Maui, of all places. They're dying here in Wyoming too. The store in Riverton closed before Christmas in December 2016. I think everyone but the manager learned about the closure from the newspaper, Pitchengine, or word of mouth. I used to deliver flowers and my store's owner would send me on errands to Kmart all the time. He'd never let me go to Walmart because he believed that they kill small businesses. Except Kmart would do the same if they had Walmart's resources too if they hadn't already before Walmart's presence was nationwide.
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Jan 5, 2018 20:24
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BarbarianElephant posted:K-Mart in Manhattan has a garden department. Most people in Manhattan have a balcony at best, and if they are rich enough to have a real yard, it is teeny-tiny and a landscaping firm deals with it. drat that is a good life hack
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Jan 5, 2018 20:57
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Mooseontheloose posted:Sears was taken over by some Randian drone who basically completely destroyed the culture of the company right? It used to be a company's whose departments work together and instead he tried to make them compete and instead of creating innovation is create backstabbing. Yeah Eddie Lampert took control in 2004 effectively, after managing to take control of bankrupt Kmart through his investment company and forcing through the Kmart-Sears merger. He then dominated the control of both organizations through his influence and shares and finally became the actual CEO in 2013 where he really upped the craziness with no counterbalanced voices. Xae posted:As much as we all roll our eyes and make dismissive masturbatory gestures when managers drone on and on about Leadership it is a huge part of companies being successful or not. I mean the thing is, again Sears did attempt to be that, it just didn't work out. And then the crazy guy starts taking over in 2004 and strangles it all.
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Jan 5, 2018 21:00
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BarbarianElephant posted:K-Mart in Manhattan has a garden department. Most people in Manhattan have a balcony at best, and if they are rich enough to have a real yard, it is teeny-tiny and a landscaping firm deals with it. Passing through Penn Station frequently I can confirm the K-Mart there is also as depressing and abandoned as you can imagine. I'd always assumed they only held such pricey locations due to lucking into some kind of decades long-lease signed long ago and were now paying well below market value. Looking into it apparently they're just vanity projects championed by clueless executives: The New York Times posted:... Volume! This was back in 1996 if you needed more evidence that K-Mart's problems didn't begin with Lampert.
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Jan 5, 2018 21:21
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How many different companies tried to save money by making their trucks bigger, then crashed them into bridges? A professor told me about working for a defunct grocery chain that did this, and it wouldn't surprise me if they weren't the only one.
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Jan 5, 2018 21:30
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Halloween Jack posted:How many different companies tried to save money by making their trucks bigger, then crashed them into bridges? A professor told me about working for a defunct grocery chain that did this, and it wouldn't surprise me if they weren't the only one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USu8vT_tfdw (yes i know these are all rentals, shut up)
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Jan 5, 2018 21:33
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Oh yes, rich foreign tourists most certainly visit Manhattan in order to shop at K-Mart. And I imagine any Wall Street analysts who venture into the empty caverns are more likely to wonder when the lease is up than to invest in the company.
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Jan 5, 2018 21:37
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there wolf posted:The Sears I was in today was clean, well stocked, had several visible employees running registers and tidying up, and had a "now hiring" sign on the door. I don't suppose you're talking about the everett mall sears? Went there early last month looking at overpriced mattresses. I'm beginning to think corporate misplaced its phylactery.
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Jan 5, 2018 22:50
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I worked for Toys R Us when they opened their enourmous Times Square location in 2001. It closed down two years ago.
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Jan 5, 2018 22:53
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Mooseontheloose posted:Sears was taken over by some Randian drone who basically completely destroyed the culture of the company right? It used to be a company's whose departments work together and instead he tried to make them compete and instead of creating innovation is create backstabbing. It turns out that copying Mussolini and Hitler's economic programs makes the books look good for a week and then it's a slow decline followed by a sharp drop! Who would have known.
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Jan 5, 2018 23:48
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Nocturtle posted:Passing through Penn Station frequently I can confirm the K-Mart there is also as depressing and abandoned as you can imagine. I'd always assumed they only held such pricey locations due to lucking into some kind of decades long-lease signed long ago and were now paying well below market value. Looking into it apparently they're just vanity projects championed by clueless executives: That excuse for getting the custom truck fleet sounds highly suspicious. Here's the info on allowable truck bridges and tunnels from the City as of the latest update:  Your average east-of-the-Mississippi tractor-trailer takes up no more than a 13 foot 6 inch height - such a size can make it into Manhattan over the George Washington Bridge, the Triboro Bridge, or that bridge into the Bronx on 95, and the Henry Hudson Bridge. (You can also fit on the Manhattan Bridge, but weight restriction there is generally prohibitive) If you shed another 6 inches off, you also clear the Lincoln Tunnel. (And the Williamsburg Bridge, but that has even more restrictions on weight than the Manhattan Bridge) If you take a full foot off you can use the Holland Tunnel, well at least you could before 9/11. Taking more height off than that only adds on more bridges and tunnels that also have severe weight limits applied to them, which a commercial truck essentially can't use. Essentially at that point you should have just switched to standard delivery vans. So, essentially, it sounds like some executive North Bergen's right at the Lincoln Tunnel too, and the approach roads to it that a truck would legally be taking all have 13 foot or greater clearance.
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Jan 6, 2018 00:23
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fishmech posted:Your average east-of-the-Mississippi tractor-trailer takes up no more than a 13 foot 6 inch height - such a size can make it into Manhattan over the George Washington Bridge, the Triboro Bridge, or that bridge into the Bronx on 95, and the Henry Hudson Bridge. (You can also fit on the Manhattan Bridge, but weight restriction there is generally prohibitive) Maybe he's going to fill the weirdo trucks to the gills with packing chips and bubble wrap?
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Jan 6, 2018 00:31
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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So apparently Barnes & Noble shat the bed this holiday season, with a 6.4% decline in sales year-to-year, which tanked it by ~14%.
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Jan 6, 2018 04:08
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fishmech posted:....entirely too much effort while missing the point..... The most restrictive height requirements these trucks needed to clear were the loading docks, not bridges and tunnels.
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Jan 6, 2018 04:31
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Motronic posted:The most restrictive height requirements these trucks needed to clear were the loading docks, not bridges and tunnels. Loading dock restrictions could be handled way cheaper than ordering a fleet of custom trucks, considering where those locations are. Including simply leasing a different set of warehouses if it was a problem with the one they initially picked. It's physical clearances on the roadways and bridges/tunnels they'd have no power over, and you never heard about other companies ordering special 10.5 foot high trucks to operate in those same spaces in Manhattan either. So no, loading docks are unrelated to the issue fishmech fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Jan 6, 2018 |
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Jan 6, 2018 04:42
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Horseshoe theory posted:So apparently Barnes & Noble shat the bed this holiday season, with a 6.4% decline in sales year-to-year, which tanked it by ~14%. I mean, I'm sure everyone figures Amazon is holding the smoking gun, but Amazon was just as big of a force last year. Maybe people just don't want to buy books period? They're trying to pivot to food service, but is the coffeehouse market saturated?
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Jan 6, 2018 04:45
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Horseshoe theory posted:So apparently Barnes & Noble shat the bed this holiday season, with a 6.4% decline in sales year-to-year, which tanked it by ~14%. It has also the unfortunate downside of still being Big Corp that doesn't garner a lot of local love and dedication. My city (Berkeley) has more local bookstores by capita than probably most and they seem to be doing OK because we also have lots of oldes and love of supporting local-bookstores, though also slowly hemorrhaging. The one really cool crazy-eclectic fanstasy-scifi book store we had is sadly closing up after 41 years.
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Jan 6, 2018 04:46
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Xaris posted:The one really cool crazy-eclectic fanstasy-scifi book store we had is sadly closing up after 41 years. I used to drive 45 miles to go to Dark Carnival. 
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