speed up their local ship times. Walmart is moving towards this too, where they're planning on shipping certain items directly from a local store when someone orders it
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The retail apocalypse has officially descended on America
- Thread starter King Mystery
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speed up their local ship times. Walmart is moving towards this too, where they're planning on shipping certain items directly from a local store when someone orders it
out0v0rder
Member
The soundtrack of this apocalypse.
https://m.soundcloud.com/deadmall5
Kaufmans is my jam btw https://m.soundcloud.com/deadmall5/kauffmans
https://m.soundcloud.com/deadmall5
Kaufmans is my jam btw https://m.soundcloud.com/deadmall5/kauffmans
always crazy bacon
Banned
I can see the Amazon stores being ike the Argos stores in the UK. Basically, the store floor is just a showroom for selected items and they have a catalogue for the whole range. You fill in a small form with the code numbers of the products you want to buy and go to pay for them at the register. You are given a ticket number and told to wait at the collection desk which is at the front of a warehouse and they pick the item you brought.
I guess all Amazon will do is add a delivery option to that as well as store pickup.
The Greek Freak
Member
Suburbia is already a wasteland.
I drive on one of the busiest non highways in my state every day, half the buildings have been empty for years despite constant eyes/potential customers.
We had that concept in Canada. The store was called Consumers Distributing. It died with the '80s. Good riddance.
RecRoulette
Member
So that's what this building here in town is called. It was strange because it was sort of like a mall but wasn't.
Dracula's Nether Region
Member
Yeah have you seen Gamestop earnings? Plus they announced 150 store closings, didn't see it in the OP - http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/03/24/gamestop-video-game-stores/99573598/
Regarding the digitization of consumer media, I'd expect Barnes & Nobles to go belly up before Gamestop. And after googling it I found that B&N once owned Gamestop stock aha, those were their glory days - https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB109690743684435414
Regarding the digitization of consumer media, I'd expect Barnes & Nobles to go belly up before Gamestop. And after googling it I found that B&N once owned Gamestop stock aha, those were their glory days - https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB109690743684435414
Ether_Snake
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Wtf, that looks like any mall today in Canada.
Canada's a lot more urbanized than the US because of the cold weather. Malls in urban areas are still doing fine, lots are still open and thriving, it's the smaller ones on the outskirts that are in trouble.
Sectorseven
Member
I think if anything kills B&N it will be the massive square footage they have to pay for each month. Physical books still have appeal - far more than games do, I would argue, and they're the only place around to buy them locally.
Retail has never been a good place for young people to gather, and it hasn't been a popular one in a long time. By the time I graduated from highschool in 2002, "hanging out at the mall" was already becoming passe.
Chet Rippo
Member
Could it have to do with them buying out Target's Pharmacy and Clinic Businesses? I can't think of any other reason.
metalslimer
Member
Being in malls used to be awesome growing up in a small town because you got to see a selection of things that weren't available most days of the week. Now I can just order something online with more of a selection and have it come to me for cheaper.
I also associate Christmas time with going to the mall to see Santa and the general christmas bustling.
I also associate Christmas time with going to the mall to see Santa and the general christmas bustling.
Chet Rippo
Member
They look old and outdated? The true mall experience!
This is fucking awesome! What's the story behind these songs though? Were they legit played during their era over the radio?
Maiden Voyage
Gold™ Member
DiamondDog74
Banned
Surprised to find that I had a dead mall in my backyard. The Sears, Walmart, Kohls and various outdoor strip mall buildings used to be one giant mall wad that closed, demolished and renovated in 2008. Second enclosed mall in Michigan. Weird.
It's all thriving now except for the Sears. I was wondering why Sears looked so old and dingy.
It's all thriving now except for the Sears. I was wondering why Sears looked so old and dingy.
Oregon does this too.
JimmyRustler
Gold Member
No surprises. Retail can't match Amazon in both price AND customer service. Shame for all the lost jobs though.
Paracelsus
Member
Yes, but they can only adapt for so long. Moving from a farm to a factory/plant or a construction site is merely arguing semantics: you were a worker and you still are.
Also, in 1960 we were 3 billion individuals with quite a few industry shifts left, now we are 7.5 and there is not a single major shift left hiring in the millions like construction and factories.
AgentOtaku
Member
MightyHedgehog
Member
This totally reminds me of the time I got seriously high when chatting up some cholas hanging out at the arcade machines at the rollerskating rink. Just a spliff later and it was all Nu Shooz 'Point of No Return' in slow mo while trying to skate straight...
AgentOtaku
Member
Yeah, as someone who almost exclusively shopped at BestBuy for games/electronics for the past few years (I've recently let my GCU expire tho), I can tell you they're doing a lot better now than they were a decade ago.
They adapted, got aggressive with things like on-the-spot price matching (IE you don't have to walk to Customer Service like in say, Target) and they're still relatively everywhere.
Honestly, they're still a legit store and my BestBuy CC has treated my family and I, VERY well
Yes I guess I am. Short term gain.
Highly agree. To me physical games lost value the moment I realized I had to install it. Plus with all the DRM coming into play there is no point to have it physical if they decide to shut off the servers anyway (with some games right now) you lose it just as much as the dude with a digital copy. So in saying that the only time I ever entered a gamestop in the past 4-5 years was to pick up an Xbox One and a 3DS.
However I still enjoy book stores. Even if all you do is grab a coffee inside and read a book in there it's relaxing. My girlfriend and I do this when we spend a weekend in the nearby city. I think we would see a belly up from gamestop before B&N personally based on the amount of people I see in the gamestops when passing by versus B&N.
Interesting way of seeing this, like an inversed keynesianism, A lot of people however have taken to a leaner lifestyle out of necessity rather than malice.
Infinite Economical growth and infinite hyperconsumerism is simply not an attainable ideal, and the recent american generations should count their blessings that their economic shrinkage has never gone as bad as, say the beginning of the last century.
Personally i work and maintain my possessions until they break, and then i repair them or make them do something else. I also buy a lot of things second-hand if i can, allows me to create a nice disaster fund.
Dr. Benton Quest
Banned
Kohl's is fucking great. Love shopping there. I haven't been inside my local mall for years.
strip malls arranged to look like a town square
here's one in our area
https://goo.gl/maps/9wVp8XDMSuT2
there's a couple more and they're literally ctrl c ctrl v of each other in layout
Retail is alright sometimes but mainly blows. Amazon delivered my switch preorder a day late despite having a preorder from the second they went up. Meanwhile I was able to get in line at target 2 hours before the store opened and purchased one. Not gonna lie it sucked (I'm not British, I don't have patience to stand around in a line) but at least I got it.
Winner: target
I ran out of protein powder and ordered more on Amazon Friday afternoon. It arrived in the mail yesterday.
Winner : Amazon
You can't beat the convenience. Although Best Buy has done a good job at adapting since the recession. I went in there to play with some demo units before making a decision on some Sony Bluetooth headphones they had. In the past I would check a store model and order on Amazon on my phone before even leaving the store. Now Best Buy will match literally any reputable online retailer if you show it to them. Any cashier can do it. Another thing I preferred about Amazon was that I could return it and get a full refund. These are headphones and I'm very picky. Best Buy allows 15 day refund for literally any reason and no restocking fees.
Anyway I live in Florida, I think our malls will be alright unless Trump completely kills foreign tourism
Winner: target
I ran out of protein powder and ordered more on Amazon Friday afternoon. It arrived in the mail yesterday.
Winner : Amazon
You can't beat the convenience. Although Best Buy has done a good job at adapting since the recession. I went in there to play with some demo units before making a decision on some Sony Bluetooth headphones they had. In the past I would check a store model and order on Amazon on my phone before even leaving the store. Now Best Buy will match literally any reputable online retailer if you show it to them. Any cashier can do it. Another thing I preferred about Amazon was that I could return it and get a full refund. These are headphones and I'm very picky. Best Buy allows 15 day refund for literally any reason and no restocking fees.
Anyway I live in Florida, I think our malls will be alright unless Trump completely kills foreign tourism
Mall of America is a destination. It has what most malls don't: Two hotels, an amusement park, an underwater park, and go karts. It also has been adding more restaurants. It's been adapting to changing consumer tastes for years now by adding these attractions and it's helped keep it relevant.
The other major malls in the area (Southdale, Rosedale, Maplewood) have also been adapting by adding more restaurants and other attractions and less retail shopping. Even the old Brookdale (Shingle Creek Crossing now) has been adapting by adding more than just retail to attact people. It's a changing trend, but it seems that's what you have to do to stay relevant these days.
BattleMonkey
Member
They are mostly being made into hang out places, heavy focus on bars and restaurants with some stores around.
It seems to be working. They're always busy. Weekends are a nightmare.
blame space
Banned
Finally a center for my lifestyle.
Xdrive05
Member
We have one of those in a suburb of Indianapolis. They set it up to look like a little city, with it's own grid of roads and traffic signals, etc. It's kind of an oddly realized Phillip K. Dick dystopian view of the future of consumerism.
I don't see this as a winning strategy for survival against​ convenience technology.
Glendemonium
Member
Maybe it's me, but I love retail stores. Not to shop, unless there is something I like but it gave people of my generation a reason to just go out. Mallrat culture if you will.
Last year we lost our Hastings, it went from a bookshop/movie/game rental store to a niche hobbyist/nerd culture/music/book place. Our town is smallish, and that was basically our last bookstore. It was one of those places where you can go "See? Our town isn't just for dumb trailer trash and country yuppies!"
Last year we lost our Hastings, it went from a bookshop/movie/game rental store to a niche hobbyist/nerd culture/music/book place. Our town is smallish, and that was basically our last bookstore. It was one of those places where you can go "See? Our town isn't just for dumb trailer trash and country yuppies!"
entremet
Member
I like them. They're fun. My only problem is that they're cookie cutter. Same ole stores and such.
People are doing what makes the most sense for them. To expect otherwise is silly. Consumer spending isn't a charity event used to prop up industry that can't handle the competition. When manufacturing like steel making and other heavy industry started massively leaving the U.S. in the 70's/80's for cheaper manufacturers overseas and threw countless people out of work you didn't see many people doing much to stop it but the country somehow survived.
There's a good chance a lot of them have a degree or an education.
PhoncipleBone
Banned
There are still doctor's offices for that market.
True. And news channel too. Oh wait, these are also dying.
We have a few of those as well (in the towns just outside of Portland). Around here they're mostly niche or boutique shops catering to upper incomes, dotted with popular restaurants like Chipotle. Upper middle income people shop there, lower incomes come for a burrito and to go look in stores they can't afford. It actually seems like a sustainable business model depending on location and economy. The shops don't cater to things their target audience will order online.
But will their kids?
We also had that concept in the US in the 80s and 90s called Service Merchandise. Watching the stuff you ordered come out on a conveyor belt was super exciting as a kid.
On topic? How do people order shoes and clothes online? I mean, I do it occasionally but I prefer to try things on before I buy.
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