warmsecondrinse
Well-known member
Sewing stuff, right?
needles, thread, all sorts of patterns for clothing, curtains, etc.
How was that?
Jim
needles, thread, all sorts of patterns for clothing, curtains, etc.
How was that?
Jim
Glut Plagues Department Stores
- Thread starter tomturbomatic
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Reefer-Galler No-Moth. Zippered vinyl suit covers. Chrome shoe racks. Engraved stationery. Pen refills. These were the types of things which you found at the good department store in town. In St. Louis, Famous-Barr also sold drug store items, along with Borax-Sudz laundry detergent (which they would deliver in 50 pound barrels). Marshall Fields did likewise in Chicago, but private labeled their items. When I worked at LS Ayres in Cincinnati in 1987-8, we had on the 3rd floor of a suburban store stationery, luggage, greeting cards, artificial flowers, table linens, lamps, draperies, towels/sheets/comforters/blankets/pillows/bath shop, casual china/cookware/utensils/glassware, fine china/glassware/silver, furniture, home accents and a leased electronics department. Try finding most of that type of merchandise in any one place now except for online.....
Notions was also where you went for the little vinyl replacement foldout credit card windows for wallets. At Rich's, we sold the Reefer-Galler SLA line of mothproofing in the part of Housewares devoted to cleaning products. I remember Wyman's Chandelier Spray. You put down plastic over the dining room table then towels on top of that and used this aerosol spray can to spray the chandelier. All of the dirt dripped off and left the fixture shining. The instructions cautioned to leave the bulbs in the sockets. My brother used to take the strands of prisms from our chandelier and wash them by hand in the sink with a towel laid down in the bottom of the bowl to prevent damage, rinse, blot dry and rehang them.
Notions was where you went for the stuff if you couldn't be arsed to make it to the dime store 
lordkenmore
Well-known member
I'm not at all sure that this really accounts for much of a decline. It's more "my feelings/my experience." I'm probably not alone, but not sure that this is true of typical Americans...
That said...
I honestly wonder if mall stores really offer enough to be worth the cost. I have less than zero interest in being fashionable, assuming one can get better fashions at the mall. The one thing that might sell higher prices to me is the prospect of better durability, but I question whether the quality in today's world really is much better. Indeed, I recently got a pair of pants that could probably be found in any number of mall stores. And yet the quality does not seem a whole lot better than what one could find at Target for a fraction of the price. I won't complain, since they were a gift. But if it were my dollar, I'd have just headed to Target. Assuming I didn't head to the thrift store, first, which is where I do the majority of my clothes shopping these days, but that's another story.
That said...
I honestly wonder if mall stores really offer enough to be worth the cost. I have less than zero interest in being fashionable, assuming one can get better fashions at the mall. The one thing that might sell higher prices to me is the prospect of better durability, but I question whether the quality in today's world really is much better. Indeed, I recently got a pair of pants that could probably be found in any number of mall stores. And yet the quality does not seem a whole lot better than what one could find at Target for a fraction of the price. I won't complain, since they were a gift. But if it were my dollar, I'd have just headed to Target. Assuming I didn't head to the thrift store, first, which is where I do the majority of my clothes shopping these days, but that's another story.
jp10558
Well-known member
I think Online shopping makes a huge difference for rural people. I have to go 45 min to get to the closest mall, and it's not much of one. 30 min for a Wegmans / big grocery store. Most stores as said above carry exactly the same things, and it's a limited selection. I have to deal with gas, traffic, wear and tear on my car, parking, possible crowds, often incompetent checkout people.
Online, especially with the "Prime" / 2 day shipping pretty much means that unless it is Friday, I can order and get it before I could get to a store anyway - I work all week.
Online also has reviews, similar products, very obscure products or models and you never have to worry about "how will I get this home" as home delivery is part of the whole experience anyway. Finally, Online often undercuts retail by a lot.
I recently wanted a new bigger dog cage. I was on a weekend shopping trip and stopped at a PetCo. They had a cage I liked, but it was $175. I thought "that seems like a lot", then "that won't fit in my car so I can't get it anyway. I'll have to make a special trip with a relatives truck." None of that was exactly enticing. I went to PetCo.com, found the same kind of cage from the same retailer for $85 including delivery to my door. I bought it right away - online.
Ever since I can get bulky things delivered - the entire experience is much better. Brick and Mortar has less and less advantages. I mean, yes, if you have to buy something in the next 4 hours, then B&M wins. But if you'd be scheduling a trip to the B&M store, 2 day shipping will probably win. B&M doesn't have knowledgeable sales staff, so you can't get any real advice. They don't have any customer comments like online. They charge for delivery. Their prices are usually higher. So what actual pros are there to shopping locally at big chain stores?
Online, especially with the "Prime" / 2 day shipping pretty much means that unless it is Friday, I can order and get it before I could get to a store anyway - I work all week.
Online also has reviews, similar products, very obscure products or models and you never have to worry about "how will I get this home" as home delivery is part of the whole experience anyway. Finally, Online often undercuts retail by a lot.
I recently wanted a new bigger dog cage. I was on a weekend shopping trip and stopped at a PetCo. They had a cage I liked, but it was $175. I thought "that seems like a lot", then "that won't fit in my car so I can't get it anyway. I'll have to make a special trip with a relatives truck." None of that was exactly enticing. I went to PetCo.com, found the same kind of cage from the same retailer for $85 including delivery to my door. I bought it right away - online.
Ever since I can get bulky things delivered - the entire experience is much better. Brick and Mortar has less and less advantages. I mean, yes, if you have to buy something in the next 4 hours, then B&M wins. But if you'd be scheduling a trip to the B&M store, 2 day shipping will probably win. B&M doesn't have knowledgeable sales staff, so you can't get any real advice. They don't have any customer comments like online. They charge for delivery. Their prices are usually higher. So what actual pros are there to shopping locally at big chain stores?
lordkenmore
Well-known member
>B&M doesn't have knowledgeable sales staff, so you can't get any real advice.
I find there can be some expertise at small, local, specialty stores. I imagine there are also a few employees of chain stores who know the merchandise.
But that said, yes, at most stores the most you can hope for is to find an employee who knows what aisle an item is to be found. And sometimes you can't even get that much.
Nothing new, I suppose. About 1990, I remember seeing a fountain pen at a mall store. I have a thing for fountain pens, and I asked about it. I can't remember exactly what the clerk said, but bottom line: she didn't know the product. It seems to me she said it used and only used ink cartridges. At that time, there had been ads about a dual ink system--cartridges or bottled ink--and it was clear that this pen uses this ink system. But the clerk didn't know this. All she probably knew was a few "selling points" on stuff in her department and how to ring up a sale (complete, one supposes, commission for her "expertise").
I find there can be some expertise at small, local, specialty stores. I imagine there are also a few employees of chain stores who know the merchandise.
But that said, yes, at most stores the most you can hope for is to find an employee who knows what aisle an item is to be found. And sometimes you can't even get that much.
Nothing new, I suppose. About 1990, I remember seeing a fountain pen at a mall store. I have a thing for fountain pens, and I asked about it. I can't remember exactly what the clerk said, but bottom line: she didn't know the product. It seems to me she said it used and only used ink cartridges. At that time, there had been ads about a dual ink system--cartridges or bottled ink--and it was clear that this pen uses this ink system. But the clerk didn't know this. All she probably knew was a few "selling points" on stuff in her department and how to ring up a sale (complete, one supposes, commission for her "expertise").
Yes, small stores often have employees and others
With expertise, but they are getting fed up with so called "customers" picking their minds, then going off and purchase online.
You see this all the time in the appliance business and is why some sales persons are reluctant to get too involved with certain customers.
As they see it spending 45mins, an hour or more with someone who keeps asking for tons of information then won't seal the deal is just time wasted. Good/seasoned sales persons of all sorts now know how to spot such "time wasters" and usually give them a wide berth.
With expertise, but they are getting fed up with so called "customers" picking their minds, then going off and purchase online.
You see this all the time in the appliance business and is why some sales persons are reluctant to get too involved with certain customers.
As they see it spending 45mins, an hour or more with someone who keeps asking for tons of information then won't seal the deal is just time wasted. Good/seasoned sales persons of all sorts now know how to spot such "time wasters" and usually give them a wide berth.
Abandoned Shopping Centers
Hi Rex, What does the EPA have to do with a shopping center being left abandoned?
Blaming empty buildings on the EPA is a pretty far stretch of reasoning, if any thing they would be pushing to remove old buildings and pavement and either restore it to an orignal condition or to build something new that is not so destructive to the planet.
Hi Rex, What does the EPA have to do with a shopping center being left abandoned?
Blaming empty buildings on the EPA is a pretty far stretch of reasoning, if any thing they would be pushing to remove old buildings and pavement and either restore it to an orignal condition or to build something new that is not so destructive to the planet.
vacerator
Well-known member
re; "what does the EPA have to do with"?
Depending upon the types of stores that were in the shopping center ie; Paint store, Laundromat, hardware, grocery, dry cleaner, where toxic eoc compounds could be in the ground, it may be a "Superfund site", like an old factory.
The EPA tests the ground after demolition, or even before.
Also if old DDT oil filled power transformers were ever there, and could have leaked into the ground.
Depending upon the types of stores that were in the shopping center ie; Paint store, Laundromat, hardware, grocery, dry cleaner, where toxic eoc compounds could be in the ground, it may be a "Superfund site", like an old factory.
The EPA tests the ground after demolition, or even before.
Also if old DDT oil filled power transformers were ever there, and could have leaked into the ground.
vacerator
Well-known member
correction: not EOC's, VOC's
Volatile organic compounds. Floor wax and stripper, bleach, etc.
Volatile organic compounds. Floor wax and stripper, bleach, etc.
I am not blaming EPA on this-they would be concerned about any products left behind after the place was abandoned-like paints,cleaners,chemicals used by the shopping center employees for its maintenance.And chemicals left behind in hobby stores and sporting goods stores.electrical equipment like transformers and the refrigents in the centers HVAC equipment.So there are things in old shopping centers that could be of concern to EPA.Watch some of the videos on YouTube about abandoned places and you would be surprized at the hazardous things left in those places!!There were even alcholic beverages left behind in some abandoned resturants-places broken into or unlocked that kids or others could get into!!You could figure the rest!So yes,abandoned shopping centers could leave some hazards.
