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Amazon actually has brick and mortar stores now in testing. Maybe it will all come full circle, they just had to take over the market first?
I still fail to understand Amazon's popularity. Plenty of websites offer "free shipping" with a cheaper membership fee or none at all and they are not price competitive on many items. Of course, for many, convenience is more important, and Amazon offers that. I love their review system however. I use that all the time and buy the item somewhere else.
I don't care about Toys R Us. I have spent time in their stores and I think they are often pretty crummy and dispiriting.
What I do worry about is what it portends for the economy. If the Amazons drive out local retail what will our downtowns be like? What will the people who now work in stores do for jobs. I do think it's a real problem, and I don't have the solution. I do think that effectively requiring internet vendors to collect sales tax for all purchases should help reduce their price advantage, so I favor that, but I'm not convinced it will be enough.
Ok..so you're implying people who shop online don't put thought into gifts and on the other hand turning up your nose at creative, independent, local brick and mortar stores which offer up a multitude of toys and activities rather than the junk marketed to kids on Nick/Disney/Saturday morning cartoons?
What I am outright saying is that it is impossible to effectively browse the selection of toys online in any meaningful way compared to standing in a physical aisle and actually examining the full selection.
I LOVE "creative, independent, local brick and mortar stores which offer up a multitude of toys and activities". I also live in a county with a population of 300,000 people where we have exactly NONE of these stores. There is a reason for that. Most people aren't looking to spend tons of cash on a wooden tracked train set or a brass kaleidoscope, and few carry anything that a child would actually request on their own. Do you really think that people don't go into these boutique stores then buy the same items online for cheaper just like the big box shoppers?
People are being really short-sighted if they don't patronize physical stores instead of shopping only online.
Do you want an America littered with only Amazon and Walmart warehouses? What happens when you have an emergency and you need a product right away?
Getting beyond the fact that everyone will miss the instant gratification of buying an item and actually taking it home right away, there are also many social and economic costs to all of these empty storefronts
Cities are getting a lot less tax revenue from the retailers who have shut down. The closures raise the question of what state and local governments will do if physical retail continues to evaporate. Already, many local governments are attempting to raise taxes to make up for budget shortfalls
But my biggest concern is that the decline of brick-and-mortar retail creates immense social challenges. When people aren’t going to stores to shop, and are instead shopping only online, the vibrancy of local communities that once depended on foot traffic fades. Socialization comes to a near halt. Who wants to live in a society like this?
There is no replacement for grabbing a child by the hand and walking into a big toy store. The sense of wonder and joy is priceless. Think of that the next time you are on Amazon.com.
It is the reality of the new world, whether we like it or not. Stores have done a lot of the damage themselves. You can not go into any retail store any more where they do not bug you at the check out to join their club, take a survey, buy an extended warranty, or give your email address or phone number.
When I shop on the internet, it is fast and painless, and the item shows up in a couple of days. Just today, I ordered $550.00 worth of product from one internet store, and $700 from another, because it took me all of 5 minutes to do, and no hassles.
I work in retail, and I have to admit that we make our customers jump through too many hoops, when all they want to do is buy a product and get out of the store.
So you aren't being prompted to join Amazon Prime, complete a customer service survey, add an extended warrantee, and give your personal information when you shop online? Of course you are! But you just accept it online because online shopping has always been that way.
People are being really short-sighted if they don't patronize physical stores instead of shopping only online.
Do you want an America littered with only Amazon and Walmart warehouses? What happens when you have an emergency and you need a product right away?
Getting beyond the fact that everyone will miss the instant gratification of buying an item and actually taking it home right away, there are also many social and economic costs to all of these empty storefronts
Cities are getting a lot less tax revenue from the retailers who have shut down. The closures raise the question of what state and local governments will do if physical retail continues to evaporate. Already, many local governments are attempting to raise taxes to make up for budget shortfalls
But my biggest concern is that the decline of brick-and-mortar retail creates immense social challenges. When people aren’t going to stores to shop, and are instead shopping only online, the vibrancy of local communities that once depended on foot traffic fades. Socialization comes to a near halt. Who wants to live in a society like this?
There is no replacement for grabbing a child by the hand and walking into a big toy store. The sense of wonder and joy is priceless. Think of that the next time you are on Amazon.com.
This post reminds me of the story of Cassandra, the prophetess who was cursed with knowledge of the future that nobody would believe.
So many people here on C-D would prefer NEVER to interact with the actual physical public outside of the UPS driver. It is truly frightening. I sometimes wonder if they acquired PTSD as a child when they wandered away from their mother at the mall and couldn't find her.
Harry, it isn't the store's fault that your granddaughter is spoiled beyond belief.
Do you not remember when there were lots of chain toy stores, like KB Toys, Children's Palace, FAO Schwartz, and Lionel Kiddie City? Are they ALL to blame for your family's issues? And do you expect to "Make America great again" now that they are all gone?
Actually, her mother was against that type of spoiling and had little discretionary income. The TRU junk just kept arriving from a step-parent and others.
Did all the chain toy stores have a share in the responsibility of monetizing and perverting childhoods? YES. In answer to your question, I don't expect to do anything except say "Good riddance."
I still fail to understand Amazon's popularity. Plenty of websites offer "free shipping" with a cheaper membership fee or none at all and they are not price competitive on many items. Of course, for many, convenience is more important, and Amazon offers that. I love their review system however. I use that all the time and buy the item somewhere else.
its the internet version of walmart, a fairly cheap one stop shop...
and lets be honest, if someone is buying random things, amazon doesnt have much competition
ebay/gearbest/aliexpress are the main ones? shipping time for them tend to be longer since they come from china
i order things from walmart online too, but if i am shopping, i at least visit amazon once to compare price/reviews, i dont do that with any other site
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