Community Chat

[Spurt]

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@BornToShop wrote:

Thank goodness my local Barnes & Noble is still around.   They are still around, Horders 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.  

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@BornToShop

I totally agree with you! I love to read and like REAL books rather than e-books...so I am glad to see that Barnes & Noble is hanging on....although barely.....

What I cant wait to see (being sarcastic here)  is as more and more B&M stores close and if more people shop online, or dont have a choice but to shop online, the prices have to go up because of the high volume of trucks/delivery services required to get all this merchandise delivered, and customers want it delivered FAST too!!!  Look at the fiasco around Christmas a year to two ago.....when USPS, UPS, and Fed Ex couldnt get it done.....Its just going to get worse....  I do shop online, but mostly prefer the B&M stores and the ability to browse, get a hands on look at quality, try on merchandise .....and it can be fun too!!!  So I hate to see local stores go away.....

And you are right about everyone's head is down at restaurants and in movie theaters, at work too---focusing on screens, no personal interaction.....(one waiter even complimented our group because we were actually having a conversation with one another instead of everyone on their smart phones).......

And the parents start them young too....In the grocery stores you see tons of toddlers with screens in their hands....and these kids are 2 and 3 yrs old....and heaven help the mother or father that takes the phone away for a second causing the kid to scream bloody murder---yep addicted already.....

One thing I am happy to see in our town, is a LARGE shopping center doing so well---always packed, even caused back ups on the expressway for miles---its like a small city and thriving--great mix of medium priced stores and restaurants....

[SahmIam]

I thought I'd add this in and see what others think; if any of you are near the King of Prussia Mall in PA, PLEASE chime in with your opinions:

I spoke with dear friend of 30 years who works at this Mall in one of the high end anchor stores. We met when we were in our 20's and worked behind the cosmetic counter (different lines). We've stayed in touch and today, her kids are grown and she still works behind the counter pulling in over $100,000 a year selling cosmetics. Not kidding. We were talking about malls closing, the saga of retail, etc and she told me that at KOP, it's always packed. Outside her store, you see rows of Mercedes, Bentley and Rolls. The valet parking is constantly in motion and the section devoted to customers arriving in limos rarely has an open spot. She told me how they've connected to the two malls (unfamiliar with what that means) and Christmas is wall to wall people. They've already hired (re-hired) the Xmas help for her line and the cosmetics department will have 100 extra employees starting with Fall Beauty Week. 

Couple this with another friend who works in real estate (commercial) who was over for dinner on her way back up to Philly who told me (after mentioning the above) that KOP mall is one of the few in the US who is making money like crazy and other malls across the country are trying to copy their business plan. There are plans to make it BIGGER and that vendors are willing to pay any price set by Mall Management to acquire a space. 

None of us could figure why this mall is doing so well and others so poorly. There are many places to shop downtown, in NY, etc and no, not everyone there is wealthy. My dear friend drives an hour each way to her job as do many who work there. I asked if it was due to the cost of houses and she said no, it's due to the traffic and chaos. They live out in the country with some land and love the peace and quiet.

I haven't been to KOP in decades so I don't what it's become. Maybe offering the high end lines is the way to keep the malls open so unless there is income to support it, why bother. That said, I know many who have the income but you would never know it....and they drive hours away to shop because there is nothing near them. 

It's interesting.

[Daysdee]

Sears closed here too.    The Macy's is going downhill.  (at same mall)  If it wasn't for online shopping, I couldn't buy any clothing at Macy's.  For example, if I like a certain style of a pant, they maybe have one or two pair on the rack and none in my size.  I do a lot of shopping from them online and I am more than satisifed with what I receive and I love their discounts, Macy's money, etc.

[151949]

@Spurt Where I live Bells is crowded thru the holidays and then thru the snowbird season. I've been in there this summer when I am pretty sure I'm the only customer in the store, but many businesses here say they make enough in the winter to carry them thru the summer. In the winter the lines at the checkout are long.

[homedecor1]

@SahmIam

My family loves King of Prussia mall.  When I visit that's our day trip to mall and a nice lunch at Nordstrom's.

The KOP mall offers some nice high end stores & a nice environment to shop.  It's one of the nicest malls in that area.  (I believe Montgomery mall closed years ago).  We also like the stores across the way (or down the street) with many stores that are no longer avail to me in my area (FL).

As for your friends -- I certainly can believe you can earn a great living selling cosmetics because they make a nice commission.  Same with real estate in this area.  Beautiful surrounding areas & prices are $$$.

Next weekend I'm looking forward to seeing family & doing some back to school shopping for my GD. 

[Spurt]

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@SahmIam

Our malls have mixed results-----

Back in the 90's the mall downtown had all the normal and high priced stores and us locals went there to shop---now its more for tourists---Locals now only go downtown to attend the many special events or to dine in one of the restaurants along the River walk instead of shopping, many stores have closed or moved out---its a shadow of its former self......The big anchors Lord & Taylor moved out....Dillards closed its store there, some store fronts are empty.........

One mall is hanging by a thread---the lower level is offices and a lot of doctor/dentists, and a movie theater and food court.....The upper level is part flea mart, and has just a few stores---Hobby Lobby (which still does a good business), and a Stein Mart, also Burlingtons (which is junky) and some weird off the cuff discount stores (more like junk stores) and a kids birthday party business, and few other small stores...This mall keeps trying to re-invent itself to stay in business. There's a Target on the side, near the lower level, but its not connected, if they opened that to the mall the mall might do better....JMHO

The open air mall (has fancy store fronts to give the allusion your shopping in an upscale small town) a lot of unique and high end stores and restaurants, you do see people shopping,.But .ITS TOO DARN HOT for an open mall in Texas!!!!  And it doesnt do as much business as the GIGANTIC Shopping Center right across the highway--that shopping center is always packed to the gills no matter what time or what day of the week...

One mall does well--It gets voted as local favorite by a magazine that conducts a yearly poll on what are the favorite restaurants, shopping, and attractions....The parking lot of the mall s full and has all the medium priced stores---they just remodeled it---good thing because it was starting to look a bit old and outdated around the edges.....But I dont understand how Sears stays there, no one is ever in that store....I'm surprised it hasn't closed...

There's the "snobby mall" as I like to call it---they have mostly high priced stores ---they kicked out stores that didn't fit "the image".....Their parking garage looks full as I drive by....but I dont like to shop there.....I guess "the elite shoppers" keep it in business.......Tourists like to go to this one too, especially during Easter and Christmas time....

There's another mall but its a bit out of the way---nice mall, nice stores.......not sure how its doing.....

And there's one more mall in another part of the city I never go to.....

I think people in our city prefer to go to these HUGE GIGANTIC Shopping Centers with a real nice mix of all kinds of medium priced retail stores and it also has restaurants/eating places!!!! 

[Spurt]

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@151949 wrote:

@Spurt Where I live Bells is crowded thru the holidays and then thru the snowbird season. I've been in there this summer when I am pretty sure I'm the only customer in the store, but many businesses here say they make enough in the winter to carry them thru the summer. In the winter the lines at the checkout are long.

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@151949

So I guess your Bealls that are doing well are subsidizing our Beall stores....but I wonder for how much longer....Interesting, thanks for sharing!

[Spurt]

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@Daysdee wrote:

Sears closed here too.    The Macy's is going downhill.  (at same mall)  If it wasn't for online shopping, I couldn't buy any clothing at Macy's.  For example, if I like a certain style of a pant, they maybe have one or two pair on the rack and none in my size.  I do a lot of shopping from them online and I am more than satisifed with what I receive and I love their discounts, Macy's money, etc.

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@Daysdee

I dont know what is happening to Macy's I have a feeling its just bad Store Managers---even in the upscale mall, the last time I was there---there were racks and racks of clothes jammed packed on a sales rack, so packed you couldnt even move the clothes to look, clothes all over the floor, dressing rooms were trashed out..... and its not the only Macy's thats a mess, Sales Associates were on their personal phones instead of working........And the store layout is odd, sportswear is scattered and so are different collections of clothing brands and handbags..... I do shop online occasionally from Macys but I prefer DILLARDS--nice and neat well organized stores, good sales, and helpful associates! 

[panda1234]

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@SahmIam wrote:

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. 

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I totally agree with you @SahmIam with the exception of Wegmans. The only one near me is in an upscale area with lots of offices. At lunch the place is packed with office workers. As far as groceries, the prices are good with the exception of specialty items. 

[this is my nic]

@FlowerBear,

It's very expensive keeping a store up and running.  If there isn't sufficient money coming in they have no option, they have to close.