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"Customer service is the only advantage physical stores have"
Not the ONLY advantage.
I try on clothes before I buy them.
I will NOT order clothes on line.
I will NOT order large items like furniture either.
I want to sit in it to be sure it is comfortable for me.
I am NOT going to go to store after store to find the "right" mattress then ordering it on line.
It take too long and is a BIG HASSLE to return large items.
Do you think car dealerships will also die?
And that is a big cause of the demise of the retail store. They want to have it both ways; keep their stores open but force their customers to buy most or all of their merchandise online. And this strategy is backfiring. If they have to buy stuff online, they'll just buy it from Amazon or Walmart. My wife got me some sweaters from Kohl's for Christmas. I needed one of them in a smaller size, and seeing that it wasn't available, I went online to select a different one for pickup in the store. I found several that I liked, but none were available for store pickup; they were all "online only." I am difficult to fit, and after shopping unsuccessfully online in the past, I was not happy to repeat that experience only to return the item. I also don't want to pay shipping. I want to look at the item, try it on, and see if I look fat in it. So once again, Kohl's lost a sale.
Just an FYI - Macy's is still profitable, and is in much better shape than is Sears, which should already be bankrupt.
Sears has been owned by a venture capitalist for years now who is staying true to that playbook; bleeding the thing dry until nothing is left but a rotting bone picked over carcass. Those remains will sooner or later be offered up for sale to extract whatever remaining value.
Thanks to tax, bankruptcy and other US laws/rules that favor venture capitalist they will get their money before and or above anyone else but perhaps federal government (taxes).
Pick one, Frank Lorenzo and Eastern Airlines, Carl Icahn and TWA.... the American business landscape is littered with corpses of companies there were basically looted then killed off by venture capitalists.
And all the other posters? You may be in denial about the reality of the ‘future of retail brick and mortar stores’ but it is already decided. Like the implosion of buildings. Happening I slow motion. The building is coming down, just the same.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristineVA
Actually, I shop at Macy's several times a year. One of the few places that I can get professional office attire. Tahari suits, Anne Klein dresses, etc. I am one of those "Fred Flinstone" types apparently because I need to go to the store and try clothes on. Yes, us women don't have the luxury of our clothing being evenly and reliably sized as men have over the past century.
I also order through Macy's online several times a year. Their online service is fantastic. I get my orders within 48 hours and returns are just as easy as Amazon. To me, they are great. The downside of them is that their stores are generally a mess and disorganized.
The Sears business model has been failing for years. The irony is that Sears was one of the original Catalog businesses. The great grand daddy of internet shopping.
I myself prefer to use Amazon rather than spend hours walking through a mall, dealing with traffic, then try to find a register to checkout when I am finished.
Everyone, of course, understands that online sales are killing brick and mortar and that the weaker players are going first. Still, look at the list of store closings. It is heavy with smaller towns and cities in WV, OH, KY - Trumpland. There is not much left in these places for employment anymore but retail and when that goes the "carnage" that is small town middle America is going to get even worse.
Everyone, of course, understands that online sales are killing brick and mortar and that the weaker players are going first. Still, look at the list of store closings. It is heavy with smaller towns and cities in WV, OH, KY - Trumpland. There is not much left in these places for employment anymore but retail and when that goes the "carnage" that is small town middle America is going to get even worse.
Hospitals in rural areas are closing. Medical practices are following.
These are often the only decent paying jobs around.
Everyone, of course, understands that online sales are killing brick and mortar and that the weaker players are going first. Still, look at the list of store closings. It is heavy with smaller towns and cities in WV, OH, KY - Trumpland. There is not much left in these places for employment anymore but retail and when that goes the "carnage" that is small town middle America is going to get even worse.
They are not getting what they voted for in those areas. Even less as their education opportunities will be going away with the tax cuts and cuts coming from the GOP budgets.
They may be able to go to a cool charter if they can find the money somehow.
It's no wonder they are dying, they have a better selection of Kenmore appliances on Amazon than they do in their stores. Their tools are crap now too.
Actually, on my Macy's thread, you will find my post stating that I did this for sarcasm and I don't personally believe it's Trump.
But, nononsenseguy, let me ask you this: if we can have thread after thread of economic success stories posted on the Politics and Other Controversies board (and all of them are attributed to Trump, BTW) should we not also be posting stories about areas of the economy that are not successes? Because there are winners and losers in every economy.
I'll ask another question also: If Macy's and Sears announced yesterday and today, that they were opening 100 new stores and hiring another 5,000 employees, would you have credited Trump for that? You actually don't have to answer because I already know what you answer that
.
That's a specious argument, and you know it.
The entire thrust of this thread is about online shopping signaling the death knell for stores--and that preceded Trump by years.
And there weren't threads blaming Obama for that trend.
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