The Retail Apocolypse shows no signs of slowing down

[Woodznutz]

An economic slowdown is looming and Trump has not helped.

Maybe if he printed some more money.

 

[ThisIsMe]

View attachment 1084594

Yet another large chain store has "bit the dust".

JoAnns Fabrics and Crafts.

Big Lots shuttered its last stores after Christmas 2024. A few might have made it into January, but they are all gone now.

Now it's JoAnns Fabrics and Crafts stores.
They are now in their beginnings of clearance sales at 40% off everything, where I am at.
No coupons either.

So sad.

Now, all we have around here is Hobby Lobby and Michaels. And for fabrics you need, Hobby Lobby is expensive, and Michaels has very little to choose from..........mostly fabrics for kids and bedding.

Whose next? I haven't heard yet, but I keep my "ear to the ground" on these happenings.

The fallout of the Democrats' Plandemic destruction is still being felt across this country. And even Trump doesn't seem to be able to help stop it.

Hopefully, once Trump and Musk get thru sifting through the corruption of government, they will get onto rebuilding our economy next year. If not, Trump is going to have to start answering some HEAVY questions from us, and Musk is going to have to worry more about his company going belly up than his stocks going down.

I know economic recovery is a long, difficult climb, but if they don't focus on it next year, I don't see that we will ever get out of this for many years to come.

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I can't place ALL blame on the economy and the government though.
Too many of these companies expanded too fast and too furious. Not all companies can exist like 7-11 does, with a store on every street corner. Some companies need stores located, one per economic area.
Like when I was little, there weren't JC Penneys and Sears on every freeking block. There was ONE, HUGE, possibly multi-level JCP or Sears within a 100 miles of the next one. People made a day of getting to go to shop at JCP or Sears. Even kids looked forward to it. It was a special family time.........even if momma was picking all the WRONG clothes for you!!! LOL
ONE store within a 50 mile radius for specialties and fun shopping experiences is whats needed.
A good example from my area here in DFW, Texas...............
Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
Awesome store.
Lots of fun stuff for the home.
Interesting holiday stuff.
But there were THREE damned stores within 5 miles of each other!!!! This is why they floundered and crashed. Yes, they still have their online presence, but their physical stores are gone.
ONE large, well stocked store was enough for this area to survive on.
I expect that Hobby Lobby may be next though. Like BB&B, they have several stores only a couple of miles from each other.
So, many of these companies have slit their own throats by over building physical stores that end up collapsing the companies.
Free market is an awesome thing. But HOW you live and do business in that free market is a completely different animal. If you aren't careful, you'll cut your own throat to spite your greed.

Much of this is really due to Amazon. People would rather just have it delivered to their house than go out and get it.

 

[Woodznutz]

Much of this is really due to Amazon. People would rather just have it delivered to their house than go out and get it.

Online shopping is the way to go, although I do still shop at hardware stores and building centers for some things.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

This is all an Amazon/internet thing. The market morphing organically.

 

[ThisIsMe]

Online shopping is the way to go, although I do still shop at hardware stores and building centers for some things.

I'm not knocking it, in my situation, amazon is much easier, but, a lot of brick and mortar stores have suffered because of it

 

[Moonglow]

Last time I looked there were 400,000-500,000 unfilled jobs in the trades. Anyone know how many unfilled polysci or art history positions are unfilled?

They are hiring for those positions at Wal Mart and the Walton family legacy items like an art museum and two theaters where big name acts occur in Bentonville, Arkansass. I wish I could have finished my degree in humanities, instead I did electronics and electrical mechanics, sucks.

 

[Moonglow]

I do the majority of my shopping online; it is more efficient in terms of time management.

 

[Woodznutz]

I do the majority of my shopping online; it is more efficient in terms of time management.

I do maintenance work. If I had to shop for the supplies I need all I would be doing is shopping. Some things are only available online. For example, I just ordered no-hole wet/dry sanding discs in metal polishing grits, unavailable in stores here.

 

[sartre play]

View attachment 1084594

Yet another large chain store has "bit the dust".

JoAnns Fabrics and Crafts.

Big Lots shuttered its last stores after Christmas 2024. A few might have made it into January, but they are all gone now.

Now it's JoAnns Fabrics and Crafts stores.
They are now in their beginnings of clearance sales at 40% off everything, where I am at.
No coupons either.

So sad.

Now, all we have around here is Hobby Lobby and Michaels. And for fabrics you need, Hobby Lobby is expensive, and Michaels has very little to choose from..........mostly fabrics for kids and bedding.

Whose next? I haven't heard yet, but I keep my "ear to the ground" on these happenings.

The fallout of the Democrats' Plandemic destruction is still being felt across this country. And even Trump doesn't seem to be able to help stop it.

Hopefully, once Trump and Musk get thru sifting through the corruption of government, they will get onto rebuilding our economy next year. If not, Trump is going to have to start answering some HEAVY questions from us, and Musk is going to have to worry more about his company going belly up than his stocks going down.

I know economic recovery is a long, difficult climb, but if they don't focus on it next year, I don't see that we will ever get out of this for many years to come.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't place ALL blame on the economy and the government though.
Too many of these companies expanded too fast and too furious. Not all companies can exist like 7-11 does, with a store on every street corner. Some companies need stores located, one per economic area.
Like when I was little, there weren't JC Penneys and Sears on every freeking block. There was ONE, HUGE, possibly multi-level JCP or Sears within a 100 miles of the next one. People made a day of getting to go to shop at JCP or Sears. Even kids looked forward to it. It was a special family time.........even if momma was picking all the WRONG clothes for you!!! LOL
ONE store within a 50 mile radius for specialties and fun shopping experiences is whats needed.
A good example from my area here in DFW, Texas...............
Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
Awesome store.
Lots of fun stuff for the home.
Interesting holiday stuff.
But there were THREE damned stores within 5 miles of each other!!!! This is why they floundered and crashed. Yes, they still have their online presence, but their physical stores are gone.
ONE large, well stocked store was enough for this area to survive on.
I expect that Hobby Lobby may be next though. Like BB&B, they have several stores only a couple of miles from each other.
So, many of these companies have slit their own throats by over building physical stores that end up collapsing the companies.
Free market is an awesome thing. But HOW you live and do business in that free market is a completely different animal. If you aren't careful, you'll cut your own throat to spite your greed.

BIG PROBLEM, NOT supporting on site retailers. not mix & mingle with your neighbors and employees.
No longer touching the fabric or trying it on for look fit or feel. Just shop on line.
going to be an interesting world when retail dies.

 

[jackflash]

View attachment 1084594

Yet another large chain store has "bit the dust".

JoAnns Fabrics and Crafts.

Big Lots shuttered its last stores after Christmas 2024. A few might have made it into January, but they are all gone now.

Now it's JoAnns Fabrics and Crafts stores.
They are now in their beginnings of clearance sales at 40% off everything, where I am at.
No coupons either.

So sad.

Now, all we have around here is Hobby Lobby and Michaels. And for fabrics you need, Hobby Lobby is expensive, and Michaels has very little to choose from..........mostly fabrics for kids and bedding.

Whose next? I haven't heard yet, but I keep my "ear to the ground" on these happenings.

The fallout of the Democrats' Plandemic destruction is still being felt across this country. And even Trump doesn't seem to be able to help stop it.

Hopefully, once Trump and Musk get thru sifting through the corruption of government, they will get onto rebuilding our economy next year. If not, Trump is going to have to start answering some HEAVY questions from us, and Musk is going to have to worry more about his company going belly up than his stocks going down.

I know economic recovery is a long, difficult climb, but if they don't focus on it next year, I don't see that we will ever get out of this for many years to come.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't place ALL blame on the economy and the government though.
Too many of these companies expanded too fast and too furious. Not all companies can exist like 7-11 does, with a store on every street corner. Some companies need stores located, one per economic area.
Like when I was little, there weren't JC Penneys and Sears on every freeking block. There was ONE, HUGE, possibly multi-level JCP or Sears within a 100 miles of the next one. People made a day of getting to go to shop at JCP or Sears. Even kids looked forward to it. It was a special family time.........even if momma was picking all the WRONG clothes for you!!! LOL
ONE store within a 50 mile radius for specialties and fun shopping experiences is whats needed.
A good example from my area here in DFW, Texas...............
Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
Awesome store.
Lots of fun stuff for the home.
Interesting holiday stuff.
But there were THREE damned stores within 5 miles of each other!!!! This is why they floundered and crashed. Yes, they still have their online presence, but their physical stores are gone.
ONE large, well stocked store was enough for this area to survive on.
I expect that Hobby Lobby may be next though. Like BB&B, they have several stores only a couple of miles from each other.
So, many of these companies have slit their own throats by over building physical stores that end up collapsing the companies.
Free market is an awesome thing. But HOW you live and do business in that free market is a completely different animal. If you aren't careful, you'll cut your own throat to spite your greed.

I knew instinctively when K-mart started deflating in the early 2000's that the retail world of the ole standard brick & mortar outlets were on their way out. When K-mart & Sears merged, with Sears already fatally torpedoed that the jig was up. Sure enough K-mart's collapse was just the beginning. An old standby for me was the Radio Shack outlets which went from riche$ to rags & ended up owned by a 3rd world nation. Somewhere in the time line between 2005 & 2015 radio Shack went tits up. From then on the brick & mortar outlets started going down like a line of dominoes falling flat to the deck. Even entire shopping malls have been know to collapse.

Of course drug dealers, physical violence, gangs etc., @ least in the more seedy districts ended it's fair share of the malls. The malls served a 2nd purpose besides retail as "social centers". Amazon type online shopping centers in my opinion was the new beginning & the end of the growth/spread of the malls. Likewise the malls lost their importance as social centers as online social outlets such as our USMB proved to be much more entertaining not to mention convenient. Like the covered wagons of old the brick & mortar outlets served an important function(s) for THEIR ERA but technology dated the brick & mortar outlets to relics of the past.

 

[airplanemechanic]

The US GDP isn't falling off a cliff, or even declining, women still love to shop.

Hmm, not according to some sources.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/28/the-first-quarter-is-on-track-for-negative-gdp-growth-atlanta-fed-indicator-says-.html

Loading…

thehill.com

Atlanta Fed predicts negative 1.5 percent GDP growth in first quarter​

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Best Buy which is headquartered in Mpls, has seen a huge downfall and is a pathetic remnant of a once strong company. The few stores left are just scratch and dent appliances and a few big screen TVs. Just before their downfall they spent millions building a huge new headquarters in Bloomington, MN.
Gander Mountain was another that once was top of the sporting goods retail. I believe the company is now owned by the owners of Camping World who completely changed to RV sales and closed all the sporting goods divisions.

Remember Circuit City? It was Best Buy before Best Buy.

More and more purchases are made online. I don't particularly like it. I enjoy going to the store and seeing it in person. My daughter in law has not been in a store in years. She buys everything on line, everything from groceries to personal care. They've been married 30 years and I have seen her in a store one time.

Bed, Bath and Beyond closed all stores but is doing a booming business on line.

 

[Woodznutz]

I look for products on Amazon first. In rare cases where they don't have it then I go to a retail store. That said, if I need something right away, I have to go shopping.

You would think that ACE hardware stores would carry "oval head brass screws", but my ACE doesn't. I ordered them on Amazon.

 

[John Edgar Slow Horses]

Amazon online and the Discover Card best protect me from scams.

 

[citygator]

Results are in. It's a disaster.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/economy/us-retail-sales-february/index.html

 

[SeaMajor7]

Apocalypse in 9/8 anyone?

 

[WEATHER53]

Stick market surge last two days and libs distraught.

 

[citygator]

Stick market surge last two days and libs distraught.

 

[Leo123]

JoAnnes demise has been coming for some time and it started a year ago with empty shelves. It's likely a result of Biden's dismal economic policies.

Regular Joann shoppers have seen it coming for some time now.

Empty shelves. Fewer employees. Reduced hours in some locations. Joann filing for bankruptcy last year and the company's announcement last week that more than half of the fabric and craft stores across the country would be closed did not come as a surprise.

"I went into a Joann's yesterday, and it literally looked like a tornado had gone through," an X user named Great Aunt Fermildahyde posted in January. "Piles of merchandise everywhere, but lots of empty shelves. Sale stuff was overflowing a bin and laying about on the floor. I got out of there as fast as I could."

Joann begins going-out-of-business sales: See list of California locations closing

A court approved Joann's request to begin closing about 500 of its 800 stores. Here are the California locations going dark and staying open.

www.redding.com

 

[WEATHER53]

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Cartoons from the “man” directed by another