Community Chat

[Caaareful Shopper]

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@cherrywrote:

@I disagree @carefulshopper  small businesses use places like Toys to establish themselves ,and become known Fortune magazine, has an article I posted ,to back me up

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@cherry  Fortune Magazine is just one voice in the toys retail industry.  Perhaps the toy small businesses are actually quicker & more nimble in noticing the trends away from large single-source in-person stores like Toys R Us than they get credit.  Small businesses can still establish themselves in stores that sell a variety of items for the whole family (Walmart & Target, for example) because the traffic inside those stores for other items can also bring incidental toy shopping.  

Along with online commerce, there's also a lot of discussion about toy businesses succeeding if they get smaller and closer to the neighborhoods as niche stores. 

Check out the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, and Inc. Magazine.

[cherry]

@Caaareful Shopper  I don't need to, it's not going to change my opinions. I don't like nor trust monopolies

[CANDLEQUEEN]

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@travelerwrote:

Isn’t Claire’s from malls also closing?

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@traveler Our Claire's has already closed.....I really hated to see that store close as well. My daughters whne they were young loved to go in there and shop, and now my granddaughter loves it too.....Ours closed, but she lives a couple of hours away and their local mall still has their store, who knows for how long though? 

I too am very sad about Toys R US, we had an excellent store here, great employees, very helpful and friendly and I loved bringing my grandchildren there to look at all of the toys and it is where I did all of my Christmas shopping as well........Our store did a great business-always had cars in the parking lot too.....It really is too bad!!!

[Caaareful Shopper]

@cherry  Understood.  I'm not a fan either. 

I do like trying to stay nimble and seeking other sales channels, especially if consumer demand is leading that way.  That's why I like online retail sales if the business owner can keep their identity and control of their product offerings and growth.

[gardenman]

Retail is constantly evolving. Sears owned retail for decades with their catalog business and retail stores. Many/most malls were built around a Sears store as an anchor. Then they lost their way opening the door for a Wal-Mart and Amazon to step in and take over. Where's the future lie? God only knows. 

My personal suspicion is we'll see a return of the catalog showrooms like the old Best, Basco, and Service Merchandise stores only where you use your smartphone to place your order while you're shopping and everything you bought is waiting for you, all paid for, and ready to go as you reach the exit.

I suspect every item on the shelf will have a bar code (or similar symbol) that you'll scan on your phone and up will pop the item with videos demonstrating it, reviews from purchasers, similar items, etc. There will be an option to buy. If you opt to buy it, the order will go to the adjacent warehouse where a robot will select the item and add it to your cart.

Rows of fully dressed mannequins will display the clothing for sale. Scan the tag and you'll see a video of a model wearing the item, a description of the item, coordinating items, etc. You can choose the size, color, etc. and it'll get picked and added to your cart. 

Your progress through the store will be tracked and as you reach the exit your cart will appear and have everything you bought inside it ready to go. A store like this could also have a fully online component where you could shop online and have your stuff delivered. 

The advantage of catalog showrooms is you can display more stuff in less space as all of the stock is back in the warehouse part and not the showroom floor. The store could be built to be nearly fully automated,  limiting employee costs, and loss through theft could be largely eliminated. The phone app could even guide you to where in the store the items you want to see are located. In terms of brick and mortar, that's where I see the future heading. It would work for pretty much every category of shopping from grocery, clothing, eletronics, etc.

[suzyQ3]

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@Cats3000wrote:

Happy to answer.  I am a Conservative.  Maybe bordering on a Libertarian.  I keep a copy of the US Constitution on my hard drive and on my desk.  I want this government to return to the route the Founding Fathers charted.  They believed in a very limited federal government.  The states and the people would be responsible for the rest.

I certainly don't want ANY government dictating to me how or where or from whom I should make purchases.  Amazon and Overstock have changed the way people purchase goods. "Toys R Us" and other "big-box" retailers have had tunnel vision and a resistance to change that is costing them dearly.  No government should interfere with that process.

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@Cats3000, I know it might come as a shock to some very fervent idealogues who tout state's rights (when it serves them, not otherwise), but it's 2018 now, a world that our dear forefathers could never have even imagined. If we don't adapt, we're lost.

The only other option is to time travel back to the late 18th century. I'll gladly give you my seat. :-)

[Spurt]

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@gardenmanwrote:

All specialty retailers face the same problem. Chains like Walmart, Target, and the warehouse stores, can buy and sell the most popular, best selling toys or other items, often at a lower price. Competition from online retailers also cuts into their revenue. If all you need is a video game, why make an extra stop at a toy store when you can pick it up at any other retailer?

If you're going to survive as a specialty retailer, you need exclusive products that are only available at your stores. You need customers to have no other choice to get the item. The big chains like Wal-Mart can watch what's selling well and steal the sales from you unless you have exclusive rights to it.

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@gardenman

What ticks me off with Wally World they built stores all over even rural areas.....cause local businesses to close.  Then Wally World focused their eyes on other mountains to climb....like taking on monster grocery store chain here in Texas---HEB (HEB drove out all the national large grocery store chains and are a formidable foe the king of the hill---the competition is no match except for Wally World groceries, oh theres Super Targets, Trader Joes Costco but they do no where near the business as HEB)..Who is winning the battle HEB is king and Walmart is a DISTANT 2nd!!!

Now Wally World decided to take on Amazon.....Meanwhile back at the ranch and I do mean real ranch in rural areas ---Wal Mart decided to close some of those stores leaving them now not only without jobs and now no etail options other than online.........and some dont deliver to rural areas....."thanks" Wal Mart....So Wal Mart now battles Amazon as Wal Mart focuses on taking them on in the online category......

So the battle continues ......as these 2 Walmart & Amazon destroy consumer choices and leave higher prices and/or shoddy goods as the only options....

I think sooner than later those "men in Washington" and I dont mean my Redskins will step in....and force anti-trust laws to take effect.....

Meanwhile folks like he TJ Companies--TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Marshalls seem to be picking up steam offering a variety of goods at reasonable prices based on the brick & mortar option......The reason I say this if these 2 are headed toward more of an online prescence the more they will be spending on distribution and shipping to meet the demand and within an ever demanding public for faster delivery....Stay tuned folks its going to be a bumpy ride.............

Some day some people are going to get tired of waiting around for packages and tired of returns and suddenly have a wanting to actually touch merchandise to feel the quality, see if it fits, looks good, the challenge...and gee just to get out of the house....tired of being today's couch potatoes......................

I look at small towns like Fredricksburg, TX where people from all over the state of Texas drive all that way from major cities with all kinds of stores to shop at all their unique small stores....why they even have an old fashioned 5 & 10 called Dooleys, complete with those wooden floors and many of the same depts and products you remember.....a small shop owner said they charge $300,000 a month in a town with a population of 11,000 to lease store space on prime main street...so ya know business has got to be good.....

 stores and streets are packed even on weekdays....... a trip back to the good ole days of shopping.....ENJOYABLE shopping.....

[haddon9]

When my kids were little I can remember taking them through Toy R Us and they loved it!  What a joy it was for them! Now since I don't have grandkids (yet) except for a few small local toy stores I don't know of any that one could take kids to visit and see in person.

Buying toys online is certainly easy and much more efficient but not the same as going in person.  

I do feel sad abut them closing.  I was sad when Zany Brainy & FAO Schwartz closed too.

[Spurt]

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@cherrywrote:

If this keeps going a few monopolies will own everything

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@cherry

Oh there's rumors now that Amazon is thinking about going into banking....................

[Spurt]

But to me the funniest thing about retail is that what people think is innovation is actually NOT.....

People think how clever place an order and have groceries delivered right to your home---how convenient, what a time saver....another new way to shop! 

..HOLD ON THERE--check out an old movie or a REAL OLD OLD sitcom and you will see groceries being delivered to homes. Now maybe in the past it wasn't an iphone but an old fashion rotary phone that was called to place an order with a person instead of on an APP...but same result...So everything old is new again