Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'd be happy to go back to shopping in small stores on "Main Street," but those are all gone thanks to big box stores, like WalMart, Best Buy, Home Depot, etc. Now those stores are scrambling to avoid being put out of business by either their own or other companies' on-line retailers . In the mean-time, small town America has lost many, many jobs.
Which has not necessarily been bad for consumers.
When I lived in suburban Virginia there was a "Main Street" hardware run by some old men. Very old-fashioned. It was fun going in. So I thought I'd try to support them with my business whenever possible. It wasn't very long before I learned that their selection was TERRIBLE as compared to Lowes or Home Depot, and that their prices were sometimes as much as a third over the price at the big retailers. Sorry, but I'm not a charity.
When I lived in suburban Virginia there was a "Main Street" hardware run by some old men. Very old-fashioned. It was fun going in. So I thought I'd try to support them with my business whenever possible. It wasn't very long before I learned that their selection was TERRIBLE as compared to Lowes or Home Depot, and that their prices were sometimes as much as a third over the price at the big retailers. Sorry, but I'm not a charity.
Point taken, but fewer employed people in the community eventually mean higher taxes, either to support those receiving public assistance or in higher real estate taxes due to fewer residents. In a household emergency, I also find it better to have a local hardware store down the street than to drive 40 miles to buy something at Home Depot or wait 2 days for Home Depot online to ship it to me.
Amazon's ever growing reach into our lives, they are now testing a corner store concept where you can shop and everything gets charged to your Amazon account. That's some "Minority Report" stuff. So not only is their online option hurting smaller retail stores, they want to become that physical retail store also.
Amazon is one company that, while being vilified by many, has always impressed me with the way it keeps growing despite setbacks and predictions the company would fail (anyone remember their smart phone attempt).
The e-commerce technology company announced on Monday a new Seattle location, Amazon Go, that has no registers. Instead, shoppers scan into the store with their free Amazon Go app, shop as normal, and leave the store with the items billed to their Amazon.com account.
While some stores have used a wedding-registry technique to allow this kind of shopping, Amazon takes it one step further. Using computer vision — the kind of technology that lets self-driving cars "see" — the store recognizes the user, making it unnecessary to individually scan items.
I'd be happy to go back to shopping in small stores on "Main Street," but those are all gone thanks to big box stores, like WalMart, Best Buy, Home Depot, etc. Now those stores are scrambling to avoid being put out of business by either their own or other companies' on-line retailers . In the mean-time, small town America has lost many, many jobs.
Definitely.
I'm just 30 and I remember there being multiple local hardware stores in town - I can think of at least four. All but one of those is now out of business, and I don't think anything else has located in the buildings of the three that closed. The downtown in my town is an absolute mess, though nearby cities have managed to reinvent themselves and keep their downtowns relevant.
I live in a town of 50,000, but we have little in the way of retail. We do have a Lowe's, Walmart, small Target, and Best Buy, but our grocery options are horrible. Basically all we have in my region is a regional grocery chain that is the most expensive of anywhere I've ever lived, Walmart, Sam's Club, and a couple of dumpy Krogers.
A lot of the condiments and nonperishable food that I took for granted in a major metro is not even available here. I either get it off Amazon or go to the closest fairly significant metro about a hundred miles away and bring coolers.
For several generations now, the trend in retail has been to have more and more products at a single location. We've gone from separate stores for the butcher, baker, and candlestick maker, to the general store, to the department store, to the big box store, and now online. Amazon is really nothing more than a continuation of the natural progression of retail shopping.
One of the things I really like about them is the fact that you can find really obscure products there. Not long ago, I wanted to buy a 1/350 scale model of the World War II Japanese battleship Haruna. Pretty obscure, right? Think you can find one of those on your local store shelf? Not likely! (If anyone does, please let me know where you found it, because I'd love to know.) But needless to say, Amazon had it. More specifically, some of their third-party vendors had it, and I actually ended up buying it directly from one of those vendors (instead of through the Amazon site) because it turned out to be cheaper to do it that way. (Comparison shopping is still a good idea.) But the point is, Amazon made it possible for me to obtain this item, whereas otherwise I'm not sure I would have ever been able to get it.
Amazon's ever growing reach into our lives, they are now testing a corner store concept where you can shop and everything gets charged to your Amazon account. That's some "Minority Report" stuff. So not only is their online option hurting smaller retail stores, they want to become that physical retail store also.
Amazon is one company that, while being vilified by many, has always impressed me with the way it keeps growing despite setbacks and predictions the company would fail (anyone remember their smart phone attempt).
I don't look at this like Minority Report--to me it's not different than a Macy's card or other store credit card. If one can earn cashback or other bonuses based on the amount spent, all the better. What I do find intrusive and Minority Report-esque is people 'liking' or linking to the social media pages of companies because then they have access to all personal information you've uploaded. People think they're just checking a box to show support when really some marketing team is looking at pictures of your baby and knows you were in drama club in high school.
I don't remember their smart phone (wow really?!) but I do remember when they first started at just selling books. I should've bought stock then.
Amazon also benefits a lot of small businesses who are able to sell into a very large market so I don't look at them the same way as a normal monopoly.
Amazon also benefits a lot of small businesses who are able to sell into a very large market so I don't look at them the same way as a normal monopoly.
In that way they are a facilitator. It's certainly a complex issue.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
