On Line

[SteveA]

On MSN this morning " See the on line furniture store that that has retailers worried" 
http://www.wayfair.com/

Inexpensive - great web site - hundreds of choices - free shipping -  and various warranties -
All that terrible flooding in Louisiana - I could see this Wayfair overloaded with sales.


SA

[brmax]

As they always said a picture is worth a thousand words, just punch the buy button and wait at your door step.
Just a change of middle men-women dealer ships I guess, makes it tough on my kind wanting to see the products.
Sure makes us spend countless hours reviewing other buyers remarks.

Floyd

[kodydog]

Imagine being an upholsterer in Louisiana. If any upholsterers need a job this is the place to be.

We opened our first upholstery business in Charleston SC, 1988. One year later Hurricane Hugo hit just north of there. The tidal surge that hit the barrier islands was 20 feet. The only bridge to Sullivan's Island and the Isle of Palms was knocked off its turnstile. The authorities wouldn't let people back on the islands for over a week siting looting and dangerous conditions. So all that furniture sat there, wet and deteriorating.

When we returned from evacuation the first thing we did was check out our shop. From the outside it didn't look bad but when we peered into the window we could see the sky through the roof. Roofers were in short supply and it took our landlord two months to get it fixed.

Our house fared much better with only trees knocked down. It didn't take long for the phone to start ringing off the hook. People wanted their ruined furniture fixed. "Pluff mud" as they call it from the harbor made an even bigger mess. We were young and worked long hard hours and met many new customers. After that we stayed very busy for the 10 years we lived there.

[gene]

Great prices!

Remember when we were young and we had to get up off the couch to change the TV channel? Well, talk about progress, now you don't even need to get up off the couch to buy a couch. Kool!

gene

[Mojo]

I often wonder what our towns will look like in 20 years. Shopping centers will be gone. Store fronts boarded over. Local businesses decimated. Local economies shattered.

We own an internet based business so I should be supportive. But I am becoming more and more cognizant of the local business owners trying to scratch out a living. A perfect example is the stereo went in my HHR. I can buy a Pioneer replacement off E-Bay or Amazon for $ 150 and then have it installed for $ 75. Or I can go to a local stereo shop and pay $ 220 plus 35 for install for a Kenwood stereo. I am electing to keep my money local.

To be honest I am getting to the point that I despise Amazon for destroying local Mom & Pop shops. People do not understand that local shops are the bread and butter of local town economies. These local businesses are the ones that support little league sports teams, school band fundraisers, local charity events, boy scouts, girl scouts, not to mention the local economies.

When is the last time you seen Amazon or Wayfair come in and support an event in your community ?
I just wonder what our towns will be like 20 years from now with all this " On-Line" shopping that is going on ?

Chris
 

[SteveA]

I miss my local hardware stores that actually helped you and gave you the right advice.  Early on in business the guy behind the counter for me was an extraordinary wealth of knowledge.  Now you go to the big box store - dare to ask a question and you get a look like you violated some law.  Crazy thought but could federal regulation someday allow small store owners to purchase goods from manufacturers at the same savings as if they were purchasing in bulk like the big box stores.  Maybe that would grow the small business' again
SA

[sofadoc]

Crazy thought but could federal regulation someday allow small store owners to purchase goods from manufacturers at the same savings as if they were purchasing in bulk like the big box stores.

The government may profess that they want to encourage small business growth, but they really don't give a hoot in hell about it.

Years ago, I approached a few other local upholstery shops about pooling our money so we could get bulk pricing on foam. None of them wanted to come up with the cash. They preferred to continue paying more buying one at a time.

I miss my local hardware stores that actually helped you and gave you the right advice.  Early on in business the guy behind the counter for me was an extraordinary wealth of knowledge.  Now you go to the big box store - dare to ask a question and you get a look like you violated some law. 

Now, you get waited on by a kid who isn't real sure which end of the hose water comes out of. I hate it when I ask them a question about a product, and they start reading the label (like I never thought of doing that myself). Then they go get someone else, and that person starts reading the label.

[SteveA]

I'm laughing -
How about when you want to purchase an item and there's only one left and the box is open.  You get the service person working in the isle and ask, "is this the last one"  ...they take out the scanner - run it over the bar code and state " we have 110 of them "
Could I have one ?  I'm not sure where they are - can you check - yes but even if I find them I wont be able to take them down until later this afternoon or tomorrow. 
SA

[sofadoc]

Or when you go in to buy an advertised special.......... And there is an empty space on the shelf where that item would normally be. So you go to the front desk, they page someone over the intercom.........after 5-10 minutes, they page them again........after another 5-10 minutes, someone finally comes to the front (still reeking of fresh cigarette smoke). He says "Oh yeah, we have plenty of those". Then he leads you back to that same empty shelf. Then he leads you to the other end of the store to ask someone else. Then THAT guy leads the 3 of you right back to that same empty shelf.

[kodydog]

Or they go into the back room and come out with just one and hand it to you, instead of bringing a case to fill the shelf up

[Darren Henry]

Stocking the shelf is probably a unionized position reserved for a visible minority with a disability ( just to meet quota). The guy could loose his job LOL.

To me it's the same "ME ME ME", "NOW NOW NOW"   mentality that generation X and their useless spawn have grown up on. The world owes me a good income and I have no requirement other to show up. Everything else is someone else's responsibility. Factor in that they grew up "needing" this years X-box game/cell phone etc... and you can see why they don't appreciate the value of things and don't think beyond their own day to day.

If they did they would donate some of the $10 they saved at Wall mart to the little league since Wallmart isn't about to replace the uniforms Fred's grocery bought when he could still afford to.

[coachtrim]

Years ago my son played baseball in Little League. I was a coach and involved with Little League management. We had a really nice fenced in field with lights and snack bar. We played a lot of night games with the older kids. The electricity bills were quite high because of the lights. We decided to build a small extension to the clubhouse to install a generator to power the lights. We had carpenters and handymen in our organization so the labor would not cost anything. We put together a list of lumber and supplies we needed and sent it to 3 local lumber yards and to Home Depot headquarters. This was at a time when Home Depot was opening stores all over the region. People were complaining about how Home Depot is going to put all the family owned lumber yards and hardware stores out of business. People called for boycotts, saying Home Depot was going to ruin our local economy. We received quotes from the 3 local lumber yards. They all were willing to give us a small discount. We received a letter from Home Depot headquarters instructing us to go see a particular manager at a Home Depot about 30 minutes from the field and he would supply us with everything on our list at no cost. They did not ask for anything in return.  Our economy was not ruined, 2 0f the 3 local lumber yards closed, but the Home Depot employs dozens more people than those 2 yards did. We still have local hardware stores although the have changed somewhat. We don't really know what the future holds but I am optimistic.
Johann
www.coachtrim.com

[SteveA]

Johann,
All good points and we can't stop the way commerce shakes out.  Granted the HD is convenient in that it's one stop shopping, the prices are better than the local guy and multiple jobs are created.  However it' painful to see the small hardware store owner/small business go away. We're mostly all small business here !  To be honest 50 % of the time I walk into HD I'm disappointed with the service - store organization, or employee attitude and I'm there fairly often.  When I went into a Tandy's leather store a few weeks ago I was very impressed with the products, employees and the help from this small franchise like store.  For me - I hate to see this business model where customer appreciation is lost in the size of the facility.  It's nice that HD donated to the League and that is gracious of them.  I wish we could have both kinds of business models.  Many little 3000 sq ft stores in my community have a Store Available sign in the window.
SA

[baileyuph]

Issues like this are and have been looked at by all sorts of business analyst.

Just to open the book of previous analysis of the changes causes by big boxes, think about it:

The opening of a HD has had ramifications way beyond how many independent lumber yards that have gone out of business (BTW the just a few causes by one HD store is in dispute).  The analysis is deeper, think of everything they sell other than lumber;  I.E.  Appliances, Nursery, Paint, Electrical supplies/items, & there is more not even mentioned.  All these other small business people are almost extinct!  One more business affected is lawn care and equipment once sold by small independent stores, is another prime example.  Go to HD and you have to walk around the lawn mowers sitting around the entry doors.

Add all this up and do the analysis, the impact is .......well not so bad, just a few?  The whole picture is the real story.  Now, as we experience/read/understand CHANGE, it hasn't stopped.

Change hasn't stopped, for example read your business financial reports on Walmart, things are evolving even for the big box (brick/mortar stores).  The past performance of that corporation has been a worry for the company - so what direction have they taken, well they bought an on line company (Jet.com) to get into the E-commerce game).  Imagine how that could turn out - definitely not growth for local neighborhood stores?  Perhaps like the mom/pop story but at a much bigger scale!!!

Changes and evolve is the story and for whose benefit?  Always the question but is it for the little guy - not for a while? 


Doyle

[kodydog]

And where do all those small business owners get a job when they close their doors. The big box store making less money (I assume) and taking a hit on their pride.

We had two mom and pop stores that sold plumbing supplies and electrical. I loved going into those stores to buy my supplies and get questions answered. They also had those hard to find items the big box stores didn't. And they fared well even when Lowes came to town. But soon after HD built their store they both went out of business.

I can see this happening to my favorite furniture store now that Ashley has opened its doors.

My favorite furniture store has been in business since the 50's. It is run by a mother and her two children. The mother is a sweet lady who is almost 90 years old. She still shows up to work every day. The son manages the business with his sister. They sell higher then average quality furniture. Their business has been dwindling since the great recession. The brother and sister are real close to retirement age.

Doyle speaks of ramifications. When this business closes their doors for the last time it will impact my business somewhat. They send many customers my way and furniture repairs.