Have you notice alot of Business Are Now Going Out of Business? (Charlotte: transplants, landscaping)

[ivster]

Looks like the are closing the 2 Tweeter locations in Chatlotte. And the University CC is closing.

[mikealialex]

Originally Posted by The Native 1

My thoughts exactly. I'll admit I quit buying from CC when I found out how they treated thier salespeople. I knew it was only a matter of time before they went under. When you take away experienced salespeople and good service the only chip you have left to play is low price and competing on price alone is difficult with retailers such as WM and BB in the market.

I was part of the Office Depot purge 2 years ago. Any Store Manager that made decent $$$ was let go, to make room for interns making 1/2 as much. I sold my stock in Oct 06 for almost $40 per share. Now- closed Stores, sales penetration dropped, and Stock is below $3! Just goes to show, good experienced people drive sales...

[bs13690]

Originally Posted by ivster

Looks like the are closing the 2 Tweeter locations in Chatlotte. And the University CC is closing.

I have never bought anything in a Tweeter. One of the worst stores ever. I am also amazed that Radio Shack is still open. Do people actually buy anything from there? They are great for batteries and misc. bits of cable but buying a TV there?

I was in the Radio Shack on Independence down by the 485 exit one day and a guy came in asking how he could get video from his PC to his TV. They tried to sell him a $200 converter box instead of a $10 output cable.

[The Native 1]

Originally Posted by bs13690

I have never bought anything in a Tweeter. One of the worst stores ever. I am also amazed that Radio Shack is still open. Do people actually buy anything from there? They are great for batteries and misc. bits of cable but buying a TV there?

I was in the Radio Shack on Independence down by the 485 exit one day and a guy came in asking how he could get video from his PC to his TV. They tried to sell him a $200 converter box instead of a $10 output cable.

Batteries and misc parts usually have the highest profit margin. In my former life I was in electronic retail sales and sometimes my company would make more profit off of a 50.00 battery than a gadget that cost 400.00. I suppose this is one reason why RC is still around. That combined with thier aggressive style customer service. As far as Tweeter goes...I always enjoyed thier service. It's too bad because I bought my TV from there about 6 months ago.

[bs13690]

Originally Posted by The Native 1

Batteries and misc parts usually have the highest profit margin. In my former life I was in electronic retail sales and sometimes my company would make more profit off of a 50.00 battery than a gadget that cost 400.00. I suppose this is one reason why RC is still around. That combined with thier aggressive style customer service. As far as Tweeter goes...I always enjoyed thier service. It's too bad because I bought my TV from there about 6 months ago.

I wondered how they have managed to stay afloat all these years. I quit going there for a long time because they would always ask for your name and full address everytime you bought something.

[tripleh]

Mom&Pop construction business here (well & water systems) and we've noticed a pretty sharp drop in activity starting back in late August.

It is somewhat loosely tied to real estate, which we know is slowing down.

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by The Native 1

As far as Tweeter goes...I always enjoyed thier service. It's too bad because I bought my TV from there about 6 months ago.

So have I. I bought my first CD player from them in 1984. They've added audio systems to all my vehicles & I've gotten great deals on AV equipment from them. But when I decided to upgrade my TV this year I bought a complete system from Zobo.

[Gregory P]

Originally Posted by BrianH1970

I think a bit of that's Darwinian. You got places like Starbucks that was just dropping them anywhere there was space to do so. You had other places dropping stores as close to their competition as they could (Home Depot's right next to a Lowes, a Circuit City right next to a Best Buy). I think it just became excessive in a lot of cases. Almost like trying to throw as many grenades at your enemy as possible, and then wind up blowing yourself up in the process.

The economy isn't helping matters for those places, that's for sure.

I was thinking the same thing.

These big corporate chains just threw up stores
anywhere they could fit a building. Now the big
guys at the top will shut stores as fast as they
put them up and it's the employees who get hurt.

Not the CEO's or Wall Street.

Like the vendor at the end of an event.

Shows over.

Time to go home.

Today is a chance for the SMART small business
people to shine. Those businesses who don't rip
people off and provide a real service to mankind
an survive if they tighten up and take care
of their customers.

People are still buying. The world isn't stopping,
especially in a growing place like Charlotte where
you have some of the smartest people in the US
heading there from other more depressed areas
of the country.

For those restaurants mentioned to start the post....

I'm sorry to hear. But anyone who runs a business
and sits back waiting for customers to come like
they might have been able to over the past 5-10
years...

The party IS over and now that we've all sobered
up I guess you could say, yes, it's Darwinism
for sure.

Greg

[Petro2008]

Looby Loo in Blakeney is closing.

[Ex-LI]

Originally Posted by bs13690

I have never bought anything in a Tweeter. One of the worst stores ever. I am also amazed that Radio Shack is still open. Do people actually buy anything from there? They are great for batteries and misc. bits of cable but buying a TV there?

I was in the Radio Shack on Independence down by the 485 exit one day and a guy came in asking how he could get video from his PC to his TV. They tried to sell him a $200 converter box instead of a $10 output cable.

About a year ago, I was in the market for a Sirius satellite receiver that would fit into a component shelf on a stereo cabinet. I went into Best Buy and multiple salespeople told me that it didn't exist and that I'd have to buy a 'home adapter for a car unit'. Knowing better, as I had seen it in the Crutchfield catalog, I called Tweeter. The Pineville store knew exactly what I needed, but they were out of it. They referred me to South Blvd, which had the thing in stock.

There's nothing wrong with the Big Boxes, as long as you know what you want. They have an attitude of 'if we don't sell it, then it doesn't exist or it's crap'. Most of the Tweeter guys didn't just move over from re-stocking the DVD aisles to sell flat panels.

It's also a shame, because in a previous life, Tweeter stores here were called "Audio Video Systems", and they used to run great radio commercials that made fun of "Incredible Universe" (remember them?). "I can't help you now, sir, we're all watching the jugglers in the main hall"