Community Chat

[desertrat8]

@furbabylover I agree 100%.  Hard to grasp all the power & greed AND that's what it is.  Elites don't care about how WE want to live our lives.  Sad indeed.

[GCR18]

We drove by a mall in CT yesterday and it was packed.  It had 5 anchor stores, but now down to 2.  It looked like a typical day before Christmas.

[suzyQ3]

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@furbabylover wrote:

@homedecor1  Yes, the cultural shift is upon us, and its not just COVID at the root of this. Certainly the radical lockdowns have done fatal damage to hundreds of thousands of businesses across the country. We have not balanced the virus versus keeping our country functional. Certainly there is more to life than simply trying to preserve it. The problem now is that these mega companies like Amazon, Walmart, etc. have taken the market share once owned by these smaller businesses. The wealth they have accrued during the pandemic is phenomenal, and it puts them in a position of power that should alarm us. America is about the "entrepeneur", the small guy who makes it big, and creates a country full of diversity. Now we are at the mercy of these giants. If we do anything at all, we should support small businesses since they are the backbone of our country. 

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I cannot fathom putting the economy before lives. There is no economy without people.

But you know, we would have been far less likely to even contemplate such a decision if everybody had acted like caring human adults and abided by the rules.

[FiddleDeeDee]

Profits before people has been the American way for a long time. A dear friend who retired in 2018 from banking told me once that Wall Street runs the country, not the White House. I believed it then and I certainly believe it now.

The mall near me (30 minutes or so) was packed in August which was the first time DH and I drove to it. Costco was mobbed as well. We just turned around and came home. We've attempted to go to the mall a few times but no matter the day or time, the parking lots are full. We're not doing it with that kind of crowds so we've yet been to a mall since moving to Florida. The anchor stores are Nordstrom and Macy's, btw.

I asked my friends back in MD what the mall situation is like (I hadn't been to our local one since Spring 2019) and they report that the high end malls are doing well and the outlet malls are doing well; everything in-between is dead. That clicks with what I've read and our own shopping habits. 

Shopping online is simply SO easy. People who never did it were kinda forced to when everything shut down and many prefer it now. Working from home, ordering from home, attending school from home....you have to wonder how this will affect social skills, dealing with people one on one, making and maintaining relationships.....whole New World.

[Cakers3]

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@shaggygirl wrote:

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@Cakers3 wrote:

I miss going "downtown" to shop.  In and out of stores in fresh air instead of stale recycled mall air.

Stopping for lunch or a cup of coffee.

Even Rexall drug store had a full service restaurant in the back of the pharmacy. 

Malls were ok when they first opened but paying to park in some of them hurt business when other malls began opening with large outdoor free parking.

Anchor stores kept malls going for a lot longer but in the end online shopping was a nail in mall coffins; not always the final nail but close.

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@Cakers3 

I hear you. I grew up in a smallish town in Pa. that had a downtown street maybe 6 blocks long filled with stores on both sides including 2 five & dimes which is what we called Woolworths and I think the other one was a Kresge, or maybe it was a Newberry. Also had 3 movie theatres and a variety of places to grab breakfast/lunch/dinner. And it was safe to walk anytime of day or evening. 

The best time was on a snowy night around Christmas when you could go into one of those five & dimes and visit Santa and if you had 10 cents he'd give you a little gift.

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@shaggygirl   Oh yes we had Woolworths, Kresge, and Newberry too.  All three and another one locally owned.   We had a large dept. store display Christmas windows like the one in the movie "A Christmas Story".

Inside was Santa and he would give out candy canes.  Very original.  LOL

I think 3 movies theaters and there was a bowling "alley" as we called them under a buidling in the basement.  Back then they had "pin boys" to set up the pins. No automatic pin setters.

Gads, I'm really dating myself.  LOL

[Cakers3]

@Spurt   I didn't know Stein Mart closed.  It was always hit or miss for mie for clothes but they did have some great deals.

Luby had announced in Sept. 2020 about liquidating but the last I heard in Nov. was that the Board voted to remove Luby's from the stock exchange and selling off assets to generate over $120 mill.

I'm not sure of the status right now.  They also own Fuddruckers and that  one is also struggling.

The Pappas brothers of Pappas restaurants have been in some type of negotiations with Luby's but I don't know if anything has been solidified yet.  The Pappas brothers own roughly 30+ % of Luby's.

It could end up as Whataburger did, which sold its major ownership stake to an equity firm in Chicago.  Of course Whataburger is still up and running so if maybe Luby's end up in the same way.

[Cakers3]

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@happycat wrote:

Seems like the places I really liked in the few malls we went to have gone to online- Coldwater Creek and Dressbarn. I wonder if these retailers will ever have brick and mortar stores again. 

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@happycat   Coldwater Creek was direct mail shopping in the early 1980's until the internet developed and then became online as well as still mailing out catalogues.  The stores didn't open until around 2002(?)

Once they sold (going bankrupt) the quality declined and stores closed.

A store reopened around here with the second owners but was very small.  That one closed also.

The stores are not coming back as far as I know but they are back online as of late 2020 with a third owner.

Their shipping was always high and I was happy that 3 stores eventually opened here but now they are all gone again.

I really liked Coldwater Creek with the original owners and still have clothes from those days.

But I'm not buying online because of the high shipping costs and the quality went down with the second owners.

Dress Barn was another favorite too.  I think they are closed around here now, too.  I haven't shopped in one in years.

[homedecor1]

I read thru the replies -- maybe it's just me who is a little more "emotional" lately..

I was never a big "mall" shopper after they closed the nearest to my house was a few towns over.  In fact, it's sits there barren and strip mall across the street the same.  

When stores started closing and the mall closed, I figured it was due to demographics of the area (older) and lack of $$ being spent.  Although, when I did want or need something it was nice to have a quick trip to Macy's, Penney's, Dillard's or other store in there.  

Guess its the sign of the times better accept it!!!  Talking to a few friends in other areas -- its about the same ... we are just going to adapt and keep looking for "free shipping"...  LOL!

[Cakers3]

Never fear. Bezos is looking at buying dead malls to convert into warehouse/shipping outfits.

Amazon never skips a beat.  Hopefully the jobs will pay well.

[proudlyfromNJ]

Our mall here in NY is open and crowded. I prefer the other mall which is all outdoors like shopping on a Main Street in town. Some stores have closed, but others are still open along with the restaurants.