Sign of stores failing fast

[Sourdough]

I remember when WT Grants repriced every thing in the stores down to about 40%.  Months later the Chain went bankrupt and closed their doors.  Montgomery Wards did the same thing with lowering prices, then closed stores across the nation, and now are a very small group of stores. 

Now we have JC Penny announcing a 40% drop in prices and the elimination of sales.  Are they going to follow Grants or Wards.

At one time JC Penny had the bulk of the Fairbanks market.  They sole every thing you needed it seemed.  Go to Penny's they would have it.  They sold Tools, power tools, Snow Machines, guns, camping equipment, a line of shoes with good hiking boots, Auto accessories, Home Items,  Furniture, almost everything you needed.  then they started cutting back on items they carried.  Gradually things started going away.  Remember when they had the sale on sporting equipment when they decided to do away with that line of products, I bought a bunch of it.  Eventually JC Penny closed their doors here in Fairbanks.  One of the biggest building in town, with the largest parking lot.  Now the second floor is a furniture store, the first floor is cut up into small shops.  Most empty.   

[SHOOTALL]

So do ya have a Wall-mart ? with junk from China ?

[BBF]

Remember Herter ?

[powderman]

Remember Herter ?

 
You bet I do. I bought a lot of stuff from them. Of all the sptg goods companies that have closed I miss them the most. POWDERMAN. 

[Conan The Librarian]

Strange timing, Sourdough. Almost evey article of white collar work clothes that I've bought in the last twenty plus years has been bought at Penneys. Until this past weekend. I went to the store I have shopped for many years. This was to get some new work clothes like Dockers and Dress shirts and shoes. Basically a twice a year trip.


Well, I saw the writing on the wall. Very little selection in shoes, so I didn't buy any. The pants were stacked in random order of size instead of ordered neatly by size. I didn't buy any. The shirts were not bad, but the selection was not as good as usual.


For the first time ever on a trip like this, I bought nothing. It used to be one stop shopping where I could get everything I needed and not even consider going elsewhere.


I realized it was over. It took me several stops to find the clothes I needed. And i really felt that I had lost an important resource.


Unfortunately, I think you are right. .

[bobg]

   Hasn't been a Penneys here in about 15 years. It was a small store. Nothing but clothes and shoes. My wife bought all her clothes there. Don't remember when Grants left town. There was a Wards in town. 3 floors of everything you wanted. Bought my first shot gun there 50 years ago. That has been gone for years. Same with Sears. Big store down town. Closed that and moved just outside of town.   Small store. Lots of stuff but a waste of time trying to get anyone to wait on you. At one time there was a store in Arcade, NY. Think it was Western Family. Bought all of my shoes there. Drove there one weekend to get shoes and it was out of business. We have a member on here that i'll bet remembers that one. We do have 2 wally worlds though. Lots of junk there.

[Sourdough]

We have a Sears, but they don't have much.  Wife goes to Fred Myer, one step above Wal-Mart.  That's where she does most of her shopping.  Once a year we go to Anchorage, (Big City) so she can find decent office clothing for work.  I get most of my clothing from a shop (Big Rays) in town that specializes in Carhart clothing.  We seldom go to Wal-Mart.  I also buy a lot from Cabela's, shoes and shirts.

[guzzijohn]

Concerning Montgomery Ward, they had no one but themselves to blame. I worked commission sales for them in the early 80s and the writing was clearly on the wall at that time that they would probably not be around much longer. They also really screwed over many of their long term employees during that time to minimize retirement payouts, etc. FURBAR does not even begin to describe how messed up the company was its last few years.
GuzziJohn

[SHOOTALL]

Ok look at the economy past and future. Many times in the past labor was not a high cost , products could be made and sold at a low price . To get people to work factories gave employees benifits during WW2 since wages were fixed. The pratice continued on after the war as it added little to the cost. Stores also had full time employees aith benifits. Well along come inflated cost of medical. loads of retirement cost , wages go thru. the roof etc etc . Then off shore manf. starts to invade our stores with less expensive and often times better products ( the auto market suffered this).
 So stores who can't import their workers ( yea some try ) had to go to part time workers and cheap goods . They can't pay for the benifits they are already responsible for and can't provide new ones so employees do less or inferior work , which looses customers and put company out of business.

[Conan The Librarian]

I see it differently. Stores don't fail because of their labor costs or benefits or gross margins. They fail because somebody else does a better job, possibly for less cost. The consumer picks the better place.
 
For example, I buy boat shoes and wear them a lot. Sperry Top Siders used to be a good brand although there were some things I didn't like about them. Van's came along and blew them away. Better product. Better price. Sold through Zappos. No more need to hunt around for a place that sold the old kind of shoes. I've been buying this type of shoes mail order for about ten years.
 

[SHOOTALL]

They do a better job managing quality of product, labor cost etc.
Its not always a better product but a more cost effective product.

[Sourdough]

I have heel spurs, and the orthopedic Dr. told me to try New Balance shoes.  The way they are made helps not putting pressure on heel spurs.  I bought a pair and fell in love with them.  At first I bought Velcro Walking Shoes so I did not have to tie them.  Then I could no longer find them in Fairbanks at any of the stores.  The stores had cut back on the styles they carry, and refused to order any other styles than what they carried.  So I ordered them from Cabela's.  I now order them solely from Cabela's.

Used to order a lot of stuff from Gander Mountain, but their mail order stores went under as well. 

[powderman]

Penneys had an ad in the paper like Sourdough said. As of Feb 1st everything reduced by 40%. POWDERMAN. 

[Ron/Pa.]

   Yesterday, the Missus and I were at our local Penny`s. I wanted a Winter Coat. There wasn`t much of a selection. Also noticed the place was kinda bare??  In fact ,the whole Mall was empty. The Sears Store had some deals but mostly on their Tools. I do most of my shopping , for stuff, online. Times are/ have changed....some not for the good.

[hillbill]

i dont know about up where SD is but down here in the lower states id imagine that online sales and wal mart had jus about killed out the higher priced retail stores.here you can get everyhting you need to live at wal mart, autozone or bass pro.wal mart for groceries and household stuff, autozone for car and truk parts, and bass pro for hunting stuff and fishing stuff. its not fair but it is the way it is. im not thrilled with bass pro as they are high priced and dont seem to stock much of what i need.

[Conan The Librarian]

I use New Balance running shoes and love them. They last for a long time too. By far the best running shoes I have had.

[gypsyman]

Thought just came to me, how things that are old, suddenly become new again. One of the oldest malls here in the Toledo area, is closing down. When it was built, late 60's, it put a shopping center down called Great Eastern Shopping Center. The mall, called Woodville Mall, went strong for 30+ years. Now there is a new shopping center about 20 miles south of here, in Perrysburg,Oh., called Levis Commons. As a kid, when you went to the Great Eastern shopping center, you went outside when you went from the JC Penny's to the Woolworth store, and to Sears or the Hobby Center. The big push when they built the mall, once you get inside, you never had to go back outside in the weather to get your shopping done. Now the new place,Levis Commons, makes you go in and out of every store, in the weather, just like the old shopping center. A little fancier, but same idea. gypsyman

[mrcooper]

Penney's was the place to buy clothing, especially men's underwear, then the college educated bean counters took over and they went to bacon neck t shirts, I stopped buying from them years ago

[Empty Quiver]

Remember Herter ?

Remember?


 Why I live in Herters home town!

[kennyd]

Penneys has mostly had half double sales for a long time.  The last we bought there was a sheet set and towels.  I used to buy my Sunday go to meetin' clothes there, but last time in the suits were poly, not wool.  We used to be able to find what we needed but now everything is overpriced and SHODDY,


The first gun I legally bought was a RG revolver at Penneys, the second was a .36 Navy from Woolworths.  The RG wore out, I still use the .36.  I still have Penncraft machinist tools, along with Craftsman stuff, and some Lufkin.  A lot of the rest is now replacements.


When I bought that stuff, old JC was still alive and had an influence.


I am afraid they will go the way of MW, or at least Sears/K Mart where I never bother to go.