Stores closing <RANT>

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randyrls

randyrls

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Joined
Feb 2, 2006
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Harrisburg, PA 17112
Well, Another one bites the dust. It seems that all the local brick and mortar stores are closing. In the last 3 years, we have lost Office Depot, Office max, Kmart, Bon-ton is closing shortly. I'm sure Sears will be next.

Soon the only way to get something will be to order it online. :mad:
 
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People are shopping online more and more. My son orders all his Christmas stuff online. I don't like online unless it is something that I know is good quality and won't need to be returned. I rarely order online, though.
 
Sears announced they are closing stores also, not all but some. My sears is carrying less and less. I have to order it online and request store pickup, there is no stock of any tools.
 
We lost all Sears in my area and the one left in a huge mall has down sized to 2 floors from 3 floors and was in there about a month ago looking for some tools and they did not even carry basic tools any more. We are losing manufacturing as well. Just went past a huge Mobile Chemical plant that I worked on many years ago when Mobile ONE oil was all the rage. They expanded and upgraded the plant putting a state of the art processing unit as well as its own substation. Kept my local electricians busy for many years. Now gone and I am sure they will put up some huge warehouse. That seems to be the thing to build these days. They have one across the street that use to be White Westinghouse. It was knocked down and now Amazon has one of the largest warehouses I ever seen. It is todays society that is driving the way. People are in such a hurry and shopping on line is one way to squeese more into a day. heck grocery shopping can be done on line now so no need for huge supermarkets any more either. Many of those have closed in my area such as Pathmark, A&P, and many others. We all see what Home Depot and Lowes did to the mom and pop hardware store.
 
I have a different perspective on this, after spending time shopping this weekend I told the wife, if I had a choice I would never step foot in another store and just order everything online so I don't have to deal with the lousy attitudes, incompetence and poor selection I seem to encounter. I have even ordered coffee, winter coats, motorcycle accessories, a bolt and I am about to order shoes (though that may not go so well) if it saves me the trouble of running from store to store and standing in line I am in. So I wont really miss most of the stores, I just don't like when they leave the mammoth stores abandoned for years to become a blite while someone builds a brand new strip mall right down the street.
 
raar25 said:
I have a different perspective on this, after spending time shopping this weekend I told the wife, if I had a choice I would never step foot in another store and just order everything online so I don't have to deal with the lousy attitudes, incompetence and poor selection I seem to encounter. I have even ordered coffee, winter coats, motorcycle accessories, a bolt and I am about to order shoes (though that may not go so well) if it saves me the trouble of running from store to store and standing in line I am in. So I wont really miss most of the stores, I just don't like when they leave the mammoth stores abandoned for years to become a blite while someone builds a brand new strip mall right down the street.
Click to expand...

And when all the stores are gone, and all that is left is robotic automatated distribution centers, where do you suspose the Multitudes of people will work and earn the money required to live on? Or are you going to be ok with then having to foot the bill for govt subsidies for them to survive?

That is what it is coming to because, people dont want to interact or be patient with another human being..
 
I like less expensive, but good quality, goods and services. It appears, at least in general, that online is a "better" way to deliver stuff less expensively. On a positive note, that closing/vacant real estate, may make it easier (lower rents) for entrepreneurs to use the space for something that lends itself to brick and mortar. I guess we will see.

Compared to the "help" that I dealt with in NYC, the folks where I live now are outstanding. No complaints from me.
 
When it comes to clothes, shoes and wearables, I prefer a store for one reason - to see if it fits. The only thing I hate MORE than lousy service is non-uniformity in clothing and shoes that I have to box up, get a return order and send back. IN some shoes I wear 11s, in others I wear 10.5s. Pants are similar. Shirts are usually OK but still I prefer to purchase them in store.

SERVICE:
Lousy service is taking over in middle income serving stores. We had a Crystal store open two years ago; it lasted 6 weeks and the corporate headquarters shut it down because of lousy service and failure to follow procedures in cooking. The staff had been through extensive training but as soon as the training was over, back to lousy service. Company shut it down. Building is still there and not used anymore. Company took down anything that would identify it as a "Crystal" burger.

To me, for the most part, poor service is lack of training and lack of understanding in cultural differences in generational poverty mindsets. If one really understands that, then training will account for that and motivation will focus in a different way. Most training is motivational, but not all motivational training works with different mindsets and world views.
 
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The mix is changing but there will be stores to replace the needs from the ones that are closing. One day, even Walmart will be gone.

In the area I live, there are tons of help wanted signs. Makes it hard to run a business without people. If they give in and only hire what's available they can end up with poor management/supervision which leads to poor worker attitudes and service.

Small, tightly manned stores and shops will fill the gaps online stores cannot and big stores will not.

When I lived North or Houston, my youngest daughter had problems finding entry level work, even when help was needed. People who did hire her later expressed their concerns; middle class white kids don't like to work. She has proven them wrong but is an exception. As a result the majority of her co-workers and friends are some shade of brown.

The economy is changing but there will be jobs. I am in management now but my fallback skill set is maintenance. Encouraged my son to follow a similar path for one simple reason: someone has to keep it all working and fix it when it breaks. But we are also running out of maintenance skills as a nation.

Hold on and see where it goes. It will eventually swing another direction.


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I can't even get a consistent 4" dust collector fitting between the different stores. 6" appears to be anywhere between 5.5 & 6.25, at least the 4" fittings only vary by about a quarter of an inch.


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earl, I can answer your statement about clothes that probably applies to shoes. When I lived in Queens, NY, our neighbor was a supervisor in a clothing factory. My mother asked him the same question. His reply was that a template is placed over a stack of fabric. Then it is marked with chalk. We know that chalk lines are not exactly precision marking. One person cuts in the center of the line, another cuts on the outside of the line, and still another cuts on the inside of the line. Then, when the fabric is sewn, you can get pretty much the same thing. The result could be one size difference in the finished product.
Your last part is why I don't buy clothes or shoes online.
 
I used to keep a list of stores & chains that went out of business around here, but after 50+ stores, I gave up.
We had a large indoor mall here until 15 years ago that had a Sears store on one end of it. Sears actually owned the property & the store that sat on it.
Well, they tore down the mall 15 years ago. The Sears store sat there, in the middle of the parking lot for 13 years, all by its self.

Sears couldn't take the hint, so the mall property owner dug a trench about 6' wide, and 3' deep all around the store. Nobody could get in or out of the store after that. After 2 years of this stupid looking store that nobody could shop at sat there, they finally took the hint & tore it down.
 
Stores have higher expenses than warehouses, but have to price items the same or lower to make sales. Therefore they have to pay employees less to make up the difference. So shoppers punish the stores for decreased service by buying online. Warehouse stock pickers don't have to have product knowledge or good interpersonal relations, so they are paid less than store employees. And pickers are more easily replaced by automation than store employees, so there are fewer jobs. Where does this end? Not in a good place.
 
I have rheumatoid arthritis and take two powerful immunosuppressants. They make me so susceptible to infection, that I HATE going into crowds. As a result virtually all my holiday shopping is done on line, and a lot of my everyday shopping as well. When I do have to go to a store, I try to do it when it won't be crowded. Otherwise I'm sick half the time. Airplanes are a real problem for me, too. Last couple of times I flew I took ZICAM lozenges and didn't get sick. Maybe they worked, maybe I was just lucky.
 
I watched a business news segment a couple of days ago and the focus was on McDonalds - they are going to kiosk orders in stores BIG time. When I first stopped into a McDonalds (with one of my grandkids) that had a Kiosk two years ago, I tried it out. Being new, I didn't quite like the lack of personal interaction.

I have had the necessity of doing this several times over the past year in McDs without the kiosks and the service is terrible. The business segment covered the huge loss of jobs for entry level workers (high school - college students). The thrust was the increased minimum wage (and while they didn't mention it, it seemed implied - lack of service) was driving the move to kiosks.

I personally would not mind a higher minimum wage with decent service but lack of service will keep me away from a store.

Sharon, your needs and sentiments are exactly how my wife feels about shopping.
 
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I always try to shop local when i can but with inflation seemingly increasing on a daily basis and being the sole breadwinner of the household we are forced to buy more and more online to stretch the budget. I have noticed recently that the online prices seem to be creeping higher as well.
 
Never really liked Sears anyway. Sears made more money from interest on their credit card than on sales of merchandise. Our local Ace Hardware store is now carrying Crapsman products. I'm with Hank. I'm hard to fit in clothes- I have to try them on. Shopped at an outlet mall in Lancaster, PA last week. Found my feet have changed up to a size nine! If they keep growing, I'm going to apply at the forest service to stomp out forest fires. A lot of restaurants are going to the kiosk at the order counter or table. Chili's has had this for a while. Olive Garden now has it. I hate going to a fast food restaurant and a teeny bopper playing with her hair or a guy staring off in space. Our local Dairy Queen has excellent service at the counter. Plus they have the Five Buck Lunch! We go there quite often.
Edit: Speepway gas stations have a kiosk to order food. It is easy and you know the order is entered correctly....unless you are the one making the mistake. BTW, I like their sandwiches.
 
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