Will Brick and Mortar Stores Die Out?

[Nodak]

I just won a technics sl-5. It uses a p-mount cart.

I have about 700 LPs and still play them regularly.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I have about 700 LPs and still play them regularly.

I need to count (and catalog) mine. I think I have over 1000.

I'll do it after I FIRE.

 

[travelover]

.............I'll do it after I FIRE.

Sure you will.

Once you are RE'd, there is always tomorrow.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Goodness knows I TRY to give the brick and mortar stores business when I can, but it's hard sometimes. Last time I went to the department store at the mall, the clothing display looked like a bunch of kids had just come through and strewn everything everywhere. And it was a Tuesday afternoon in an empty store. When I do find something but maybe not my size, they offer to order it.

I was shopping for an appliance at Sears a couple of years ago and asked if they could explain the differences between models. I was invited to sit down and browse their web page in the store.

 

[HFWR]

Still have a relatively generic turntable from a Hitachi stereo I bought in about 1986. Have 300+ albums, but many are approaching 50 years old, and have been subjected to BSR mini-changers, errant roommates, and innumerable moves...

As for the retail environment, though it's painful for many, the landscape has changed. Not sure what the adaptation will be, except that it will be ongoing.

Back in the day, many small towns had a clothing store, appliance store, hardware store, etc. They had limited inventory, and, since buying in relatively small quantities, had no pricing power.

These were replaced by big box stores like Walmart, Home Depot, etc., stores that offered a larger product choice, and, due to quantity purchasing, could offer lower cost. The advent of the interstate highway system made it easier to drive to the regional mall.

Now, I can, from the comfort of my sofa, buy almost anything with a few clicks, and can use a search engine to find the exact item I need.

Many smaller towns have never recovered from/adapted to the big box store trend, let alone the online retail trend, and we have the deserted "downtowns" to prove it. We have literally billions (trillions?) of dollars tied up in highways, real estate, including the humongous parking lots, and sprawling suburbs, so that ship will be slow to turn.

But turn it will, just not sure of the direction. The current trend of creating mixed-use developments, with retail, restaurants, and apartments/condos is one answer, I suppose, though much of that retail seems to be boutique-ish, and higher priced, due in part to high rents and low sales volume, so not so practical for lower income folks.

The increasing cost of energy was supposed to drive us toward higher density development, and to be the death of suburbs and sprawl, but I guess the price of energy wasn't listening...

 

[rdy2go]

I can still buy my buggy whips locally at the feed store, but I buy my stryptic pencils online.

On a lighter note, being sort of a pack rat, I still have my original AR turntable I bought in 1971 and the Panasonic I bought in the late 70's. Have you seen what those AR turntables are selling for on ebay? I paid $72 for it in 1971 and now they can go as high as $400 for a nice one.

 

[travelover]

I can still buy my buggy whips locally at the feed store, but I buy my stryptic pencils online.

On a lighter note, being sort of a pack rat, I still have my original AR turntable I bought in 1971 and the Panasonic I bought in the late 70's. Have you seen what those AR turntables are selling for on ebay? I paid $72 for it in 1971 and now they can go as high as $400 for a nice one.

$72 in 1971 is worth $422 now. Not keeping up with inflation.

 

[Nodak]

I actually have 2 turntables; I have a Thorens that I bought in 1972 but it got knocked off of its stand and the motor shaft suffered a slight bend. It's in its box in my basement and this thread has got me to decide to start looking for a replacement motor. It got damaged long before ebay existed and it just occured to me that I might now be able to find a replacement motor.

 

[Sunset]

The Mayfair Daily Journal, January 8, 1880:

That's fictional, but the point still applies: Just like light bulbs didn't spell the end of candles, automobiles didn't spell the end of stables, and airlines didn't spell the end of ocean liners, online shopping won't kill B&M stores: If the parallels prevail, then we'll see B&M retail morph into a novelty of some sort, an experience for which, perhaps, people will pay a premium.

Yes I imagine one day we will pay for a yearly admission pass so we can visit a B&M store to fondle the displays and pick something up and take it to the cash register where a human will take paper currency as payment !

Oh wait the future is here it's Costco & Sam's

 

[Sunset]

I disagree. The last 2 hand guns I purchased I bought online and shipped to my local gun store simply because it has to go through them. What if in the future someone like a notary service can receive firearms purchased online and process the proper paperwork?

You can, its called your local ffl.
I bought a hand gun online, and they shipped it to my buddy, who is an ffl.
I drove to his house, we filled out the paperwork, I paid him $20 and took the gun home.

I also buy all my ammo online...way cheaper than B&M stores. The only benefit to a gun store is getting to feel the guns in your hand, how they feel, weight, trigger pull, etc etc. You can have one massive store kind of like a cabelas...although their gun inventory is pretty bust.

Once I bought ammo online, I asked they ship it to the store, but they said they couldn't and had to ship it to my place as a matter of safety.
About a week later when I got home there was a box of ammo sitting on the doorstep clearly marked as ammo for everyone walking by to see.

Now I buy ammo at the store.

 

[Nodak]

You can, its called your local ffl.
I bought a hand gun online, and they shipped it to my buddy, who is an ffl.
I drove to his house, we filled out the paperwork, I paid him $20 and took the gun home.



Once I bought ammo online, I asked they ship it to the store, but they said they couldn't and had to ship it to my place as a matter of safety.
About a week later when I got home there was a box of ammo sitting on the doorstep clearly marked as ammo for everyone walking by to see.

Now I buy ammo at the store.

Interesting, when I moved back to my home town last June the movers would not take ammo I had to haul it myself.

 

[Sunset]

I think I buy all my computer stuff online, the choice of memory types is too much for a store to carry, and what is there to look at with a hard drive anyhow ?

I will easily buy appliances online as they are generally white cubes.
It's not like I get to try out the washer & dryer in the store to see how well they clean my clothes.
I did have a bad experience buying a dryer for a rental, as they shipped one that had a different door than the one I bought, and the tenant didn't know and didn't care and I found out weeks later.

When I went to Sears store to buy a stove, I spent 10 minutes buying it, I would have done it online, but didn't have a computer with me when travelling. Turned out they shipped one with a broken handle, so I phoned the store and they swapped the entire door with a floor model one so I didn't have to wait 2 weeks for delivery of a handle.

 

[bUU]

Yes I imagine one day we will pay for a yearly admission pass so we can visit a B&M store to fondle the displays and pick something up and take it to the cash register where a human will take paper currency as payment !

Oh wait the future is here it's Costco & Sam's

And that is for a place where staff are almost surely not going to know the difference between LG and Insignia.