The Death Of Retailing As We Know It?

[mystery-ak]

    TERRY JONES
    3/22/2017



Things have gone badly for retailers recently. How badly? As their shares plunge and sales tumble, venerable names such as J.C. Penney, Sears, Kmart, Macy's and others have expressed doubt over whether they can even survive. And, yes, the internet is to blame.

more
http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/the-death-of-retailing-as-we-know-it/

[roamer_1]

    TERRY JONES
    3/22/2017



Things have gone badly for retailers recently. How badly? As their shares plunge and sales tumble, venerable names such as J.C. Penney, Sears, Kmart, Macy's and others have expressed doubt over whether they can even survive. And, yes, the internet is to blame.

more
http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/the-death-of-retailing-as-we-know-it/

TRUE. My nephew is getting into bush-craft and becoming quite a woodsman. I went to several sporting goods stores to try and get him a particular knife as a gift/reward - Just a large lock-back knife, much like my own, a fairly common tool here made by Schrade... And I wasn't being terribly picky - I'd have settled for either the Uncle Henry model or the Old Timer... I went to four different outlets, and the selection was grim - not just for the one I was after, but rather, altogether. I finally found one, but the price was absurd. ABSURD. Found it right away on Amazon, for half the money.

If a feller can't find a lock-back knife of that popularity in this town... there's just something awfully wrong.

Same for hiking boots and backpacks... and even ferro rods, for Pete's sake. Nothing to pick from, and what's here is the crappy stuff or the stupid spendy stuff... the vast middle is no where to be found.

I HATE internet shopping. I really do. It's impersonal... distant... uninspired.

I like that I know the guy behind the counter - That he ain't packing my hind end full of sunshine just to get a sale. He's been there since Hector was a pup, and I trust his judgement. I like to hold the thing I want to buy in my hand, try it on for size, and inspect it's heft and quality before I buy. I like that there's coffee out back, and that the checker out front makes eyes and flirts with me just for fun.

It's nearly gone, and its a damn shame.

[Applewood]

@roamer_1

I wish we had more of the Mom and Pop stores here , but most of them are gone and we're stuck with the major retailers. 

When I first moved here, there were three hardware stores nearby.  Once in particular was 2 blocks away from my house. The owner, Jimmy, was a font of knowledge when it came to paint, tools and everything else.  Once I had to caulk around my bathtub.  He taught me the right way to do it. Left to my own limited knowledge of home repair and maintenance, I would have made a huge mess. 

Well, Jimmy retired a few years ago and his store was closed. The other hardware stores are gone now, too.  I get lost in Home Depot or Lowes.  Try finding a salesperson to point me to what I'm looking for is almost impossible.  And if I need advice or a tutorial on how to use the product -- forget it. It's also a pain for me to get to these stores.  They are too far away and not accessible by public transportation. I miss being able to just walk up the street to get what I want.

[Fishrrman]

For all the problems many big-box (and medium-box) stores seem to be having, the Home Depot and Lowe's around here seem to be doing just fine...

[Elderberry]

I can't see how the Auto Parts  and Hardware stores stay in business. I kick myself everytime I try to find what I need in one. Or if they have it, its way more expensive that what I can buy online, even accounting for shipping.

[Victoria33]

I don't go to stores anymore, only a grocery store and Bob does the majority of that.  I do go through the drive-in window to pick up prescription meds at Walgreens which is a couple of miles away.  If I need/want something I get it from Amazon, if that is cheaper than other places and it usually is.  I buy clothes on line from a certain store.

I save gas, save time I would waste looking in stores and not finding what I want.  PLUS, my right knee (it had surgery several years ago), does not like big stores and all that walking.   Only takes a short while to order on line and keep working on whatever I am doing.  Plus, summer is coming in Texas and it will be over a hundred up to 107, and I"m not getting out and walking in that heat.

God bless the internet for older people.

[geronl]

Once upon a time people ordered nearly everything through catalogs from distant outlets.

The internet is a lot like that.

[roamer_1]

Well, Jimmy retired a few years ago and his store was closed. The other hardware stores are gone now, too.  I get lost in Home Depot or Lowes.  Try finding a salesperson to point me to what I'm looking for is almost impossible.  And if I need advice or a tutorial on how to use the product -- forget it. It's also a pain for me to get to these stores.  They are too far away and not accessible by public transportation. I miss being able to just walk up the street to get what I want.

@Applewood
Well, ol Hank down at the west-side Cardinal Hardware was my 'Jimmy'... He is retired now some 3 years or so... The place just ain't the same without him. I swear he was standing there one day and someone built a store around him.

I still have hardware and lumber, just as always. I won't go to Home Depot or Lowes if I can possibly help it.  Cardinal is pretty much still the same as thirty years ago, with the very notable exception of Hank being gone. I can still go in there and find exactly what I want, exactly where it's been for all that time. And there's still free coffee and free popcorn.  Exactly the same with Western Building Centers... Same with industrial supply and electrical supply houses. Same with the farm stores and wrecking yards.

Where I am feeling it is in Automotive. All the little warehouses are gone, or so under-inventoried that they won't be long. Napa is still the same (and where I mainly go)... though oddly enough another Hank retired from there who was the last guy that could run the books... and the computers are insufficient often.

But O'Rielly's is here, and AutoZone... and all the rest dried up because of them. I expect the same will happen all the way around in due time. And it saddens me.

[roamer_1]

Once upon a time people ordered nearly everything through catalogs from distant outlets.

The internet is a lot like that.

And I find it odd that the grandaddy of mail order (Sears) cannot revert to it's original form. Irony is so ironic.

[DB]

I do go through the drive-in window to pick up prescription meds at Walgreens which is a couple of miles away.

@Victoria33

https://www.express-scripts.com

It is cheaper and saves a LOT of time. You normally get 90 days at a time and it arrives in your mailbox. You'll only go to Walgreens for one off prescriptions. It is night and day...

[Free Vulcan]

Alot of these big old behemoths got stuck in the malaise of the late 70's and never seemed to climb out, such as Sears who was a major force for nearly a century.  Their demise was happening long before the internet with the Walmarts and others who were either more efficient, or sliced off niches like Target who captured the surburban chic crowd.

What's not mentioned in this article is Walmart. They have done what they've had to do to change with the times and went huge into online. Plus they got the clout and cash to challenge Amazon directly and beat them at their own game. I routinely compare the two on products and go with the best deal.

[Gefn]

 I do 80% of my shopping through Amazon. Other than food, or Walgreens or gas. I don't go to bricks and mortar shops.

[Applewood]

@Victoria33

https://www.express-scripts.com

It is cheaper and saves a LOT of time. You normally get 90 days at a time and it arrives in your mailbox. You'll only go to Walgreens for one off prescriptions. It is night and day...

Express Scripts is great, particularly in bad weather when you don't want to have to trudge through snow and ice to get your prescription.  I also find the service at some pharmacies to be atrocious. The local supermarket has a pharmacy, but it seems like every time I hand over a prescription to be filled, the counter person tells me the pharmacy is out of stock and to come back tomorrow.   Well, sometimes I can't wait till tomorrow or I have other things to do tomorrow. 

So for my usual scrips, I use Express Scripts.  Only thing is that you can't wait till you're down to your last pill.  Express Scripts can take at least a week or longer to fill and send your scrip to you.  Particularly so if your scrip is a renewal rather than a refill.  But if you keep on top of your supply of meds, Express Scripts is a godsend.

[Applewood]

@roamer_1

When the major retailers came along, the small businesses couldn't keep up.  They didn't have the inventory or the buying power of the big stores.  Plus once the owners of the small businesses retired or passed on, there was no one to take over.   Children or other family members often had other careers and the thought of operating a store 12 or more hours a day, plus weekends didn't appeal to them.

A bit ironic that the major retailers put the Mom and Pop stores out of business, but now the big stores are in trouble themselves.  Before long, all we will have is online shopping.

[roamer_1]

Before long, all we will have is online shopping.

@Applewood

Yep. And corporate farms...

[Fishrrman]

Applewood wrote:
"A bit ironic that the major retailers put the Mom and Pop stores out of business, but now the big stores are in trouble themselves.  Before long, all we will have is online shopping."

It's kind of like the coming -- and then the going -- of the dinosaurs.
But new life sprang up as the old disappeared.

Perhaps with the passing of the big-box stores, we'll see some new kind of retailing spring up to fill a void that online retailing can't.

Perhaps small specialty stores, rising up the way mammals first did at the end of the dinosaur period.

Why... it'd be like little "mom and pops" all over again...

[Victoria33]

@Victoria33
https://www.express-scripts.com
It is cheaper and saves a LOT of time. You normally get 90 days at a time and it arrives in your mailbox. You'll only go to Walgreens for one off prescriptions. It is night and day...

@DB

Years ago, we had express scripts due to the company using them.  I didn't like waiting for them to come in the mail.  I have Blue Cross Medicine Insurance with Medicare, and my meds are cheap and I get 90 days on each prescription.  I also take a rated pain pill (oh, my God, a narcotic that the govern. and liberals think I will get hooked on!) and that has to be picked up in person.  Because it is a narcotic, can only get one month at a time.  That is ridiculous.  If I wanted to do myself in, I could take all of the one month at one time and kill myself or I could sell them on the street. 

[roamer_1]

Because it is a narcotic, can only get one month at a time.  That is ridiculous.

@Victoria33
To get mine, I have to show up in person at my doctor's office, get a hand written prescription, deliver it that day to Walgreens, or do it all again....

[Victoria33]

@Victoria33
To get mine, I have to show up in person at my doctor's office, get a hand written prescription, deliver it that day to Walgreens, or do it all again....

@roamer_1

Yes, that is what I have to do. Luckily, our Walgreens is only about two miles away.  They know me now - "here she is to get her 'fix'".  I remember a time when you could get your meds without the government  meddling in your life.

[Suppressed]

Express Scripts is great, particularly in bad weather when you don't want to have to trudge through snow and ice to get your prescription.  I also find the service at some pharmacies to be atrocious. The local supermarket has a pharmacy, but it seems like every time I hand over a prescription to be filled, the counter person tells me the pharmacy is out of stock and to come back tomorrow.   Well, sometimes I can't wait till tomorrow or I have other things to do tomorrow. 

So for my usual scrips, I use Express Scripts.  Only thing is that you can't wait till you're down to your last pill.  Express Scripts can take at least a week or longer to fill and send your scrip to you.  Particularly so if your scrip is a renewal rather than a refill.  But if you keep on top of your supply of meds, Express Scripts is a godsend.

@Applewood @DB

Medco was much better...then Express Scripts bought them, and I've switched away from them.

Walgreens will mail prescriptions, too...not that I like Walgreens.  But keeping them at Walgreens let's me run to the 24-hour window or get them mail-order, as is more convenient.

[roamer_1]

Yes, that is what I have to do. Luckily, our Walgreens is only about two miles away.  They know me now - "here she is to get her 'fix'".  I remember a time when you could get your meds without the government  meddling in your life.

@Victoria33
Oh but you can! Nothing that natural herbs and a bit of corn likker won't cure... My norco and oxy use is nearly negligible now. I hate jumping through hoops. Ain't made for it. Damn well won't do it.

I need weaned off their crap anyway. if SHTF, I need to be able to function.

[Victoria33]

@Victoria33
Oh but you can! Nothing that natural herbs and a bit of corn likker won't cure... I need weaned off their crap anyway. if SHTF, I need to be able to function.

@roamer_1

I get you about being able to function if SHTF and you can't get the meds.  I try to take less of them to be able to store some.  I have fibromyalgia, diagnosed by a neurologist years ago.  I take four meds for that and one is the hydrocodone.  A couple of months ago, back muscles on my left side seized and the pain was horrible.  And, if I moved any part of my body it made it so much worse, unbearable, to the point I didn't move the whole day and I mean I was totally still.  I could move my right arm enough to get to my mouth and that was all I could move.  Along with the hydrocodone, I drank a half bottle of wine and nothing seemed to help.  Maybe it did help but I couldn't tell it since the pain was so severe.  I suppose my body functions shut down due to the pain because I had no urge all day to go to the potty.  By nighttime, I could move to the bed without the pain being so bad.

After that, I looked up the mg amount of hydrocodone in those pills and saw I can take two at one time.  If that happens again, which it will since it had done that before but not as bad as this time, I will take two of those pills at one time and not drink the wine.  Incidentally, when Bob saw I had downed half of the wine bottle, he took it away, afraid the combo of the pill every four hours and that much wine might be too much.  Really, the pain was so severe, I couldn't move and would have preferred to be knocked out by an IV putting whatever into me.

I know your pain and something has to give when that happens.  I would like those who make drug "rules" and doctors and druggists to have the pain I had so they will know how important those pills are.

[Victoria33]

@Victoria33
Oh but you can! Nothing that natural herbs...

@roamer_1

WHAT HERBS?  If it/they help stop pain like I had, tell me what it/they are and I'll buy a truck load to take and store.

[Victoria33]

What's not mentioned in this article is Walmart. They have done what they've had to do to change with the times and went huge into online. Plus they got the clout and cash to challenge Amazon directly and beat them at their own game. I routinely compare the two on products and go with the best deal.

@Free Vulcan

That is exactly what I do.  If Walmart has it and is cheaper, I get it there, either get it on line and have it sent there free to pick up or if it is already in the store, go there as it is only about 4 miles from us.

[r9etb]

For all the problems many big-box (and medium-box) stores seem to be having, the Home Depot and Lowe's around here seem to be doing just fine...

Because they sell stuff that's hard to manage on the internet -- lumber, fencing materials, fertilizer, plants, paint.... all that stuff that you just decided to work on this weekend.