[–] Animal_Chin 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago
Get rid of box stores. Bring back small business!
[–] POdPatriot 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
This thread is making me miss my old hardware store - it's worn wooden floors, bins of nails and bolts measured into tiny paper bags, rolls of heavy window screen waiting to be cut to size, products the big box stores didn't carry, and the three or four old guys hanging around the counter on a Saturday morning who knew how to fix anything.
[–] Anon1986 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
Awesome!!! The best way to take down the DS is for everyone to stop giving in to consumerism. Q is right when he/she/they say these people are stupid. If you kill the world economies and cut the middle class out everyone will stop spending frivolous amounts on useless shit and the world economy falls apart.
The best way to destroy an enemy is to let them destroy themselves.
WWG1WGA!!!!!
[–] VanilluhGorilluh 1 point 4 points 5 points (+5|-1) ago (edited ago)
The problem is most of us cant survive without walmarts, targets, kroger's, etc. They can. And that's exactly what they want.
[–] Anon1986 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
We most definitely can survive without these big corporations! The only reason they’re here in the first place is because they brought in a cheaper product. If they all close their doors small businesses will start becoming more prevalent and we can start supporting our own communities again. People have become lazy and want everything in one place. I think if we were to go back to small businesses people would prefer to support quality products again, instead of the cheapest piece of crap they can find that will break in less than a year.
If people would pull their heads out of their asses and get over materialism they would realize that a table that costs a little bit more but is better quality is the better purchase in the long run. We’re so focused on having more garbage instead of having less but better quality.
Maybe I’m way off base here but I think that this is more economically feasible for the average household than spending a lower amount on a product that lasts much less time.
Planned obsolescence is something we all ignore when it is something that should enrage us.
[–] LoyalTrumpArmy ago
Not me. I don't buy anything online unless I absolutely have to. Where I bought my pans online, he is a store in South Plainfield, NJ. Only ordered them online, because I didn't want to drive 2 hours.
[–] POdPatriot 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Agree with the part about frivolous buying - and it's very possible it may be forced due to job loss. No matter what, we must refuse universal basic income. (((They))) are pushing that bc it will be the last nail in our coffin.
Where is the responsibility to people? Just bc a person can be replaced with technology, doesn't mean they should be.
[–] LoyalTrumpArmy 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
I just glanced the article. I don't know if I believe Bonton really had to go out of business. We live in a rich area where people can afford $70 for a shirt. Maybe people just wised up about getting ripped off. I will say this, I use to buy all my shoes from Bonton and in 2007, all the good shoe companies started outsourcing and you couldn't even find a pair that fits. One pair had nails coming up. They tried to go cheap and still charge high prices and that's probably what caused their downfall. Garbage in...garbage out.
[–] bwarren2010 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Goodwill has taken a lot of store business
[–] Paladin_Diver 0 points 9 points 9 points (+9|-0) ago
The sad and untold part of this story is that the cashflow statement isn't the problem, the balance sheet is.
What that means (for those who aren't accountants) is that the leveraged corporate balance sheet is the reason for the store closings, not necessarily the location's ability to generate positive cashflow.
The corporate owners of these retailers loaded up on debt to juice the profits during good times. Those profits then were paid out as dividends, stock grants, etc.... The profits left the company, but the debt remained. Now any bump in the road causes these indebted companies to be in a position of forced liquidations.
Was that deep enough, or should I continue?
[–] G45Colt 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago (edited ago)
Loud and clear. In a nutshell - the boardroom and top officers of the company enriching themselves at the expense of the company. Ever notice how many CEOs are board members of other companies, and vise versa? In many cases, one small DS family.
[–] Paladin_Diver 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
Absolutely. It is basically the DS playbook personified. And it doesn't happen in Adam Smith's worldview. It can only happen when the corruption is so deep that those who are supposed to prevent this crap are indeed the actual perpetrators.
[–] POdPatriot 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Thank you for this.
[–] Paladin_Diver 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Thank you. I was hoping I'd been clear enough in that simplified attempt at an explanation.