Community Chat

[Mominohio]

I think in many urban areas, stores and retail outlets in general way over built for decades. They felt that even medium sized cities needed two or three or four of the same store (Walmart, Lowes, etc.). 

With the advent of online shopping, many areas cannot support so many duplicates of the same store, or repeats of similar stores (our nearest town of 50,000 has a Lowes, Home Depot and Menards, and honestly I don't see how it sustains all three), and we will probably see more closings. 

The hot retail sections of towns and cities shift over time. What was once the premier retail district with lots of top name stores or malls, grows old, and retailers build new areas, usually further out of town, so the old ones need to close as people move their shopping out into the newer areas. 

[lovesrecess]

Just saw an article today about stores that have filed for chapter 11 or are just closing altogether. Most seem to be stores that have been in malls for years; Claire's, Gap, Guess, JCP, Sears, J Crew, etc. I was surprised that Walmart is closing a lot of Sam's Clubs but will keep a few of the stores as warehouses for Walmart online sales. Most of the malls here are closing; only two are thriving. Things are changing. I still like browsing and looking at things in person.

[AngelPuppy1]

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@FlowerBear wrote:

Stores in our town keep closing. It is so sad and pretty soon there will be no place to shop!!!

Sears is closed, HH Gregg closed, Kmart is closing and Elder Beerman is closing!

Do you think it is because most people shop online now?  There are still alot of us that like to shop in real stores and try on before we buy.

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@FlowerBear

Yes, definitely!  And all you hear is Amazon, Amazon, Amazon!  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Amazon.  But there are plenty of other places to shop.

We are having the same thing here.  Very small town.  Over a short period of time, I have seen first one store, then another closing.  The thing is, where I live, if you don't shop in this small town, then you have to travel about an hour to get to the next good shopping area.  So, where do people actually shop if they want to shop in person and close by?  I am one who believes in supporting local businesses and the local economy if at all possible.  I feel it is a win-win proposition for everyone.  

Also, as I have said many times here, I totally enjoy the shopping experience!  To me, it's a very pleasurable and fun thing to do!  I love to browse and going from store to store is something I've enjoyed doing for years and years.  

I do order some things on-line but usually its something I cannot find locally.  

There is nothing like going to real stores and getting to see the goods, touch the goods, try them out and experience them first hand.

You order on-line and you don't know for sure what you are getting.  Plus, there is the hassle of wating for the merchandise to come and then returning (more expense usually) if not right or what you expected.

Some people I guess think it's too time consuming to shop at real stores, but just think about how much time is spent on-line shopping, browsing, and other on-line activities.  

I know they're saying on-line is the future of shopping, but I am not happy about it!  

[just bee]

I, too, regret seeing the businesses I grew up with closing their doors -- but that's the free market.

For every one that closes a new one opens.  It's up to the new ones to be better.

My hat is off to those who survive and prosper in a changing economy.  We consumers have more choices than ever before.

Choose wisely.

[Twins Mom]

Now when I enter a store and they advertise “50%” off everything, I ask “are you closing or is this a sale?” Totally sad. Our mall is 90% empty. The outlet stores are closing too. I can say that I will be shopping less if forced to do online. I can’t envision how things will fit on me, feel, compare, make best choice on line. Outlets have to pay rent, Macy’s put on fireworks for everyone to enjoy, etc while online sits ready to price drop.

[BornToShop]

Thank goodness my local Barnes & Noble is still around.  Borders has been gone for 9 years.  I am an avid supporter of all Bricks & Mortar stores.  It will be a sad world if people stay at home in their pajamas/wine clicking & sending; never getting out mingling, shopping or interacting with other people.  I was at our local Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  There was a table of 6; parents & 4 kids.  All heads /focus on their cell phones.  No conversation, no interacting, no contact whatsoever until their food came.  They all proceeded to eat & use their cell phones.  So beyond sad.  The internet is the demise of the B&M era.  

[Vivian]

Our small city has a mall that’s all but dead. Shopping in our town was never great but now it’s hopeless, except for Lowe’s, Home Depot, and WalMart. I do almost all my shopping online. Time marches on. Malls killed downtown shopping and now online shopping is killing the malls.

[Spurt]

@FlowerBear

It can be for various reasons........This is what a relative that works in retail tells me, and also what the financial journals are saying....

Some stores have been poorly managed and have been on the brink of bankruptcy for several years--- like Sears (whose CEO is more concerned about the real estate the stores are located on ..... and then they combine with another company on the verge of goin under, KMart.....not a good thing!!!  JCP has been ruined when they hired an Apple Exec to be CEO.....they fired him and are still trying to recover......

Some stores have gone under because of Amazon and their pricing games....they will lower the price of a product that they know another retailer is putting on sale, and to offset this they raise the price on other items to make up the difference.....some ill informed customers dont comparison shop and think Amazon is always the lowest and buy from them.....Amazon plays this game with thousands of products.....most retailers do this with a 100 products.....

Some retailers target their stores to millenials who shop for bargains like TJ Maxx, Marshalls etc....studies show millenials dont like to pay a lot for clothes, shoes, handbags etc as past generations have, so the higher priced department stores are feeling the crunch and retailers are closing stores where sales arent that great.....Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch, J.  Crew, Ann Taylor................

Some is due to people shopping online...............

In some parts of the country, malls are dying or turning into "entertainment centers".......so cornerstone stores in malls are dying along with the malls..........

Uncompetitive prices---this is what happened to Toys R Us......

Some stores expand too rapidly....They open too many stores across the country and revenues are lagging....

[Spurt]

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@151949 wrote:

My small town has a Bells and a walmart. The walmart is one with a grocery store and is jammed all the time. I avoid it as much as I can and grocery shop at Publix. The nearest mall is about 25 miles away in a high traffic area, but has all the stores you'd expect - JCPenney, Nordstroms, Macys, Kirklands, hobby lobby etc. The city of Sarasota is only about 40 miles away in the opposite direction of the mall.Of course , anything we need we can get there.

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@151949

One store that really puzzles me that isnt on the list of retailers closing some stores or filing bankruptcy or on lists predicted to be OUT OF BUSINESS is BEALLS....whether it be in malls or shopping centers these stores are ALWAYS like ghost towns......I just dont see how they remain in business....They have 500 stores and 7 in our town alone.....They are a puzzlement in today's highly competitive retail world.....

[bonnielu]

We had two malls. One closed 15 years ago.  The other one had major stores but pint size version.  They are not doing that well and many are leaving.  We do have outlet stores 30 miles in three directions.