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Fashion Retailer Bebe Closing All Stores.

MJ DeMarco

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Read an article the other day that said Amazon is going to kill more American jobs than china ever could.

IMO, three quarters of FANG are becoming like Standard Oil from the early 20th century. It might be time to break them all up.
 
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Striver

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IMO, three quarters of FANG are becoming like Standard Oil from the early 20th century. It might be time to break them all up.

Good luck! Amazon and Google are going to rule the world one day!

Speaking of Google... how do you feel about the Senate allowing ISPs to sale our browser histories now? That's just insane!
 

rollerskates

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I was walking through Bloomingdales the other day and looked around at all the inventory they had and just thought to myself: "That is so much shit that will never move."

I have this exact same thought every time I shop. IMO, 90% of women's clothing in stores is crap. It's either slutty or made with patterns that makes anyone carrying 5 extra pounds look like a sofa. And I'm not even talking Walmart, but stores like Nordstrom and Dillard's. I have been on a quest to find decent fitted, V neck, all cotton tees, sufficiently thick to not be showing all my undergarments to the world, but it's nearly impossible You wouldn't think it would be hard to find the most basic of garments.

Anyway, I believe the crap quality of merchandise is a key factor in stores closing. I'm not even sure what Bebe is, so I looked and I wouldn't wear any of that. I did notice they had a cotton V neck tee, but in ugly colors.

Incidentally, LOL, I am wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt from walmart right now. comfortable but I certainly won't be leaving the house in this.
 

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mindfulimmortal

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In Las Vegas I am seeing a trend of success of small business who offer customers what they really want vs the big box stores who are out of touch with consumers and buy large inventories and then have to offer them at a big discount (and a loss) to sell them. The food industry seems to be leading the change. Even in the old downtown Vegas area there has been a big comeback with small one of kind restaurants, clothing stores, book stores etc. This is really good news for all of us who desire to transform to the Fastlane. It's no longer the corporate dinosaurs who are in charge. Any one of us can startup a business and meet the needs of the consumer better, more agile and be successful!
 

Gareth

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I'd hate to be a retail store owner right now

Shopping Mall operators in the past have been able to gouge store owners because traditionally there has been I line of people waiting to open up shop.
 

mindfulimmortal

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Read an article the other day that said Amazon is going to kill more American jobs than china ever could.
Years ago I heard a wise businessman tell me "I confidently predict that if you start up a small business on the basis of price, you will fail." He also taught me that as a small business you have to compete on design. That advise always stuck with me and kept my focus away from commodity products that the big box retailers sell. I am wondering - do products that are design based and not price sensitive sell well on Amazon? Or is it just better for commodity products? Anyone have any experience with higher price items selling on Amazon? Respectfully
 
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MidwestLandlord

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Sure would be nice to complain about decreasing sales, when you're doing 3.05 BILLION a quarter! haha

If your business was down 13.6% in sales as GameStop's is, you'd be complaining too...regardless of how many zero's the gross revenue line has.

GameStop has very large fixed expenses, so any drop in sales hurts them a lot because their expenses remain high.

They are currently renegotiating leases with Simon (their largest landlord) to reduce their rent payments, or they will be closing stores much quicker than they already are.

GameStop's other brand, Simply Mac, is set to close 50% or more of their locations because of reduced sales and high mall rent payments. (Simply Mac has been buying out of their mall leases for pennies on the dollar)
 

G-Man

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GameStop has very large fixed expenses, so any drop in sales hurts them a lot because their expenses remain high.

.... and a product that's increasingly available online. People don't even have to get off their a$$ to PURCHASE the video game which they then use to sit on their a$$. Kinda like how I can order exercise equipment on Amazon because I'm ironically too lazy to go get it at Wal-mart :rofl:

They've been resulting to increasing shenanigans in their supply chain to try to boost their margins, ... which is what we call an unrecorded contingent liability..... these guys aren't long for the world.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Here's a question, what traditional B&M store is NOT in trouble?

One might think Target, but I've noticed my local Target is always empty. Things I might buy from Target (my closest department store) I now just get online. I even started getting my groceries online coordinated with local pickup.

About 8 months ago I did a local pickup at Best Buy -- OMG, it was like walking into a mortuary.
 
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Even furniture sales on amazon.com/ca/uk have been sky rocketing the past few months. Now I understand why most furniture stores are empty when I drive by them daily. Seriously thinking about expanding within this market under a new brand name. Although logistics to get the products to FBA will be difficult, it's a good barrier to entry to keep others out.
 

MoneyDoc

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Here's a question, what traditional B&M store is NOT in trouble?

One might think Target, but I've noticed my local Target is always empty. Things I might buy from Target (my closest department store) I now just get online. I even started getting my groceries online coordinated with local pickup.

About 8 months ago I did a local pickup at Best Buy -- OMG, it was like walking into a mortuary.
I really don't see how Staples is still managing to get through...
 
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Scot

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I really don't see how Staples is still managing to get through...

Staples and Office Depot seem to be so incredibly out of touch with today's world.

It's almost embarrassing walking into their store. They're like watching grandpa trying to be hip to impress his grandkids. Each time I walk in they're trying something new and 5 years too late. The most recent example was their half assed attempt at cell phone repair.

My only theory is that their B2B sales is the only thing keeping them afloat.
 

Mr_Maravish

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The Limited also closed earlier this year. They had over 200 stores nationwide.
 

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If your business was down 13.6% in sales as GameStop's is, you'd be complaining too...regardless of how many zero's the gross revenue line has.

GameStop has very large fixed expenses, so any drop in sales hurts them a lot because their expenses remain high.

That's just bad business practice! And no, I wouldn't be complaining(too much)...but I can see why Gamestop is, if what you say is true.

@MJ DeMarco... around where I live, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target are so damn busy you can hardly find a spot to park!
 
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I am wondering - do products that are design based and not price sensitive sell well on Amazon? Or is it just better for commodity products? Anyone have any experience with higher price items selling on Amazon? Respectfully

It can be more challenging to sell better, higher-priced products on Amazon, because of the way the search algorithim is set up.

On Amazon, more sales velocity = higher search rank placement, which creates a positive feedback loop of sales.

If you have a higher priced product competing for an identical keyword as a lot of other lower priced products, you may have a harder time getting traction in the search.

Using Amazon's internal PPC, or directing sales traffic from another ad platform (facebook for example) can help to overcome this.


So, it just depends on the niche, the products, and how much of a market their is for the higher priced product.
 

amp0193

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Even furniture sales on amazon.com/ca/uk have been sky rocketing the past few months. Now I understand why most furniture stores are empty when I drive by them daily. Seriously thinking about expanding within this market under a new brand name. Although logistics to get the products to FBA will be difficult, it's a good barrier to entry to keep others out.

Logistics may rule out FBA entirely, depending on the furniture. Over 150lbs. and you're talking a serious commission fee hike. And this is on top of the additional expense of shipping to their warehouse (Unless you went direct from supplier to Amazon)

I'm not all that familiar with it, but I know they recently rolled-out "fulfilled by merchant prime". Something you should look into.
 

amp0193

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I really don't see how Staples is still managing to get through...

My guess is a lot of B2B sales, and being on approved vendor lists for businesses.

I know when I worked at the school district, Staples was the only approved vendor for office type supplies.
 
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Veloce Grey

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Here's a question, what traditional B&M store is NOT in trouble?

Basically the grocery store seems about the only B&M place I go to regularly. It wasn't like I planned it that way, but at some point I realised when I needed a new pillow I was ordering it from Amazon and a new shirt I was shopping from a store in Miami which is 8000 miles away from where I live.

In terms of this quote-

"I mostly go to target because I hate going to Walmart."

I think variations of that type of comment are only going to increase as society seems to become more disconnected. Often when I make a decision about a restaurant or café it's as much about who is going to be there as the food itself. It may sound harsh but 20 years ago I could probably relate to a far greater percentage of the people in most places. Now the civility seems gone and there is less trust all around. There seem to be more "no go areas", especially in the cities.

The annoyance of sitting in the queue at a discount store behind someone waddling around, coughing all over you, loudly speaking something only vaguely resembling English despite that being their native language.....it just isn't worth the $ savings. No point selling your sanity that cheaply if you can avoid it.
 

amp0193

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It may sound harsh but 20 years ago I could probably relate to a far greater percentage of the people in most places. Now the civility seems gone and there is less trust all around. There seem to be more "no go areas", especially in the cities.

You're touching on a much deeper issue here, that goes into the last 40-50 years of suburban development. Segmenting of cities into residential and commerical zones have made people less social.

Read Happy City by Charles Montgomery if you want to learn more. It's very interesting.
 

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Regarding MJ's post about B&M stores, I don't see Macy's closing anytime soon. P.C. Richards might survive, too.
 
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luniac

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I ordered jeans from amazon, didn't fit right... such a hassle to go through the process of sending it back i just dont bother.
Trying the jeans on in the store is infinitely better for me, i know for a fact im buying the right size and im done.

Someone should solve this problem.
but how though i dont know...
size 33 jeans might not actually be size 33 for a particular pair... unless they double check it before shipping?

CORRECT SIZE GUARANTEE would be worth paying extra for in my opinion.
 

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I ordered jeans from amazon, didn't fit right... such a hassle to go through the process of sending it back i just dont bother.
Trying the jeans on in the store is infinitely better for me, i know for a fact im buying the right size and im done.

I agree. It's such an inconvenience to mail back and wait for the process. I feel bad for this guy:

rw2lnd.jpg

11bq0ps.png

282oobs.jpg

2rmqlv6.jpg
 

luniac

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I agree. It's such an inconvenience to mail back and wait for the process. I feel bad for this guy:

rw2lnd.jpg

11bq0ps.png

282oobs.jpg

2rmqlv6.jpg
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
 
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amp0193

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Someone should solve this problem.
but how though i dont know...
size 33 jeans might not actually be size 33 for a particular pair... unless they double check it before shipping?

Looks like Amazon solved this problem, with 5-day made to order clothing that can measure your size with a camera.

“Who are you wearing?”


I stand by my opinion that e-commerce will figure out the logistics how to conveniently sell clothing/fashion.
 

U2ForNow

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Less than 10% of retail sales are accounted for online! The last recordable number was just over 6%. So if 90+% is brick and mortar why go with online? Stores are going under because they leveraged too much with OPM - Other Peoples Money - specifically easy credit. Consumers are moving away from the big chains toward smaller niche businesses (good for us). Not many businesses are making money online. It often costs more to get a customer than you make. If there was money to be made wouldn't Amazon be leading the way? They finally turned a profit in 2016 but it wasn't from their retail sales. It was mostly from their services such as cloud computing.

This.

Debt is evil and eventually will sink the ship. I have been buying up inventory from most of these failed companies including Sears. We just did several Sports Authorties last year. The debt load was enormous.
 

rc08234

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Sears, JCP, HH Gregg and BEST BUY will all go under. Best buy charges 20$ for a 6 foot charging cable, I got 3 10 foot long cables for 10$ off amazon.

If best buy doesn't innovate, they are dead. Stores like H&M clothing will continue to grow. I think if walmart/target expanded their office sections Staples would go bust. Eventually staples will go bust either way tho. Kohls will bust. I think macys will cut costs but ultimatly stay around. I end up there every xmas buying outrageous handbags for my girlfriend. I also think these huge furniture stores will most likely end up going bust.
 
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CPisHere

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The middle class has been killed the past 15 years. That's what built and supported all these stores. Ecommerce has just been eating b&m retail, but now they are both starting to hurt.

Notice that many ecommerce businesses are starting to go B&M/get acquired. That's because they have run out of easy customer acquisition channels online. The pain of harder/higher customer acquisition costs + suppression of margins is much harder on b&m retailers due to overhead and debt.
 

jason91

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Traditional retail is slowly collapsing.. I think we're on the verge of a major change in how we shop in stores
 

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