Community Chat

[FlowerBear]

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.

[SeaMaiden]

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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  It is the future of shopping I am afraid to say....if stores are losing money.....then why would they keep them open?  It is always hard to deal with change the older you are. I understand how you feel......

[FlowerBear]

Yea that is true. Im not older lol just hate to see stores closing.

[SahmIam]

What stands out from your post are 2 things:

1) These are chain stores

2) These are discount/lower priced items type of stores

It's something that I noticed in my area and in articles regarding retail. In my area, the small, boutique/unique stores are doing very well and they don't have an online site for their wares. In the malls near me that are thriving, it's the high end department stores that are the anchors and the stores in the malls are made up of companies I've never heard of or are very unique/not found everywhere. The grocery stores that are always packed are Costco, Aldi's and Trader Joes and NOT Wegmans, Whole Foods, Giant or Safeway. Walmart isn't as brisk a business as it once was but the three hardware stores are jumping far more than ever. It makes me wonder if we're going to see a revival of smaller, privately owned stores instead of the massive chains again. 

[patbz]

To me it's all about customer service, available variety of goods, price and return policy.  Speaking of K Mart, I'm surprised the chain didn't go bottoms up 20 years ago (in my local store you couldn't even get 4 cans of paint in the same color and clothes were cheap and tacky).  I am rural and do a lot of online shopping (Amazon and Costco) plus an occasional trip to Phoenix to fill in the gaps!

[happycat]

About five years ago, my small town was suppose to get a big mall. That idea went by the wayside.The land was bought and nothing has happened. The mayor said it was because of the economy.

If one primarily likes thrift stores, antique malls this is the place to be.

We do have a small JC Penneys, Belk, a Wal Mart, a Kmart, and TJ Maxx and a Ross. Its downright depressing and I go out of the area to shop or order on line.

My son got married a few weeks ago, I ended up ordering 3 different outfits on line and wound up returning every one of them. I really need to try stuff on, just don't have good luck.

[ScrapHappy]

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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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Our Sears closed too.  There are no Kmarts near me, but I did see the one close to my MIL closed when I was in NJ.  We had a Toys R Us and Babies R Us, but they're closed now too.  I heard on the news the the toy business is really taking hit because of Toys R Us.  Many manufacturers depended on Toys R Us to sell their goods, like Mattel and Fisher Price, etc. 

[Mom2Dogs]

The only place I order on line is QVC, (and any more very little from QVC) and occasionally HSN....that's it.

I still enjoy walking the mall, and am not so busy that I cannot work it into my schedule.

Onine shopping is not for me.

[Annabellethecat66]

Once I was able to figure out my size (generally) it became easy to order on line (QVC entirely).

I haven't worked in 40 some years, but every time I go out I dress as if I was going to work (Denim & Co, Isaac's, etc).  

My point is I think it's easy to order on line if you understand the clothing line and they are consistent.

I think I'd have trouble though if I had something in particular I was looking for and it needed to be for a specific time or place.

Teenagers still like to go shopping in stores (at least my granddaughters do, as well as all of their friends).  It's mostly a social thing though.

My daughters still shop on line for most things.  When I visit my youngest (unmarried) daughter she and I go shopping together (just for her).  Again, it's fun and something WE enjoy doing together.

I live in the Va/DC area where there's no limit to stores.  My youngest daughter I mentioned lives in the city (Denver) so she could shop anywhere but prefers otherwise to shop on line (unless I'm there).  Even when she goes into the stores and I'm here in Va she'll still do face time with me WHILE she's trying on clothes (try it, it's fun).

I definitely think more and more people just aren't interested in shopping in stores.  Clothes don't hold the value and interest they once did (just look at the way people go out of the house these days).

I have 7 living grandchildren.  Except for the youngest one's most of them want gift certificates for their birthday (as opposed to opening actual gifts).  They then use those gift certificates to order on line.

I just gave my son-in-law (as I do for everything) $100 gift certificate for Amazon.  He NEVER shops (like most men) and orders everything on line.

Again, I guess it's the way of the future....I don't like it, but then I don't think we have a choice (just like everything that's happening)...UGH!

[Q4u]

We've also had the usual store closings, KMart, Sears, etc, but the other stores seem to be doing very well.  Carnival Shoes opened, Bed, Bath & Beyond, TJMaxx and Kohl's are always jammed and Dillards here seems to be doing very well.  We've also had a Sephora added to our Pennys (which was failing under the 'one lowest price' thing they had... went back to coupons and they're doing good again.  Also an Ulta was added.  And a newer/bigger Hobby Lobby opened a couple weeks ago and it's still hard to get into it because of al l the shoppers.  We're a small town too, around 45k.  I honestly think that there are certain stores that people just can't stand going into anymore.... maybe they just can't shake their 60's-70's images, I don't know, but other stores seem to be thriving.....  we'll just have to see what happens.....