Who will be the next casualty?

[draggar]

In my area a great restaurant chain, RJ Gators, closed their doors. :(

Circuit City is on the way out, Linens and Things are gone, JoAnne fabrics are gone. Many banks are gone and/or changed names.

So - who does everyone think will be next?

I think stores like Target and Walmart will survive. Home Depot and Lowes will survive. Staples and Office Max will survive. I also think most wholesale clubs will survive (Sams, BJ's, Costco etc.).

I think our next casualties will be:
Office Max (if they aren't already on their way out)
EB Games is going to have a tough time competing with Game Stop (even though GS is a huge rip off).

I wouldn't be too overly surprised if Sears was also on the list.

[carlton]

Circuit City going under was a surprise. Top products at competitive prices. To stand in the store was as tolerable as being in a Best Buy. If Best Buy had any advantage over Circuit City it was that they have a greater variety of electronics/products.

I agree with your Sears comment.

[Donald Aquilano]

EB Games is going to have a tough time competing with Game Stop (even though GS is a huge rip off).

Sorry to break the news to you Ed but Game Stop owns EB games now. Up here GS has pretty good deals at least from my perspective.

BTW.... I think I mentioned in another thread that The Sharper Image is closing all of their stores. Sad really since I always liked them.

[BELLC1]

My Sunday newspaper still had the advertisement for Circuit City this morning. Have they actually closed the doors or was it just too late to cancel the advertisement?

[Admin]

I haven't heard of many, really none here, food establishments closing up yet. I guess people are still eating for the time being.

[copper]

Circuit City going under was a surprise. Top products at competitive prices. To stand in the store was as tolerable as being in a Best Buy. If Best Buy had any advantage over Circuit City it was that they have a greater variety of electronics/products.

I agree with your Sears comment.

I stopped buying things from Circuit City or Best Buys long time ago
unless I must have it NOW. I've been buying electronics from Internet.

[Acro]

Bennigans closed in Florida and other states a while back.

[DomainsInc]

I don';t know what its like in the states but here in canada sears is always packed.

[Gerry]

I hate seeing what has happened here on a local level.

Piedmont Airlines
Holly Farms
RJReynolds

These were all successful Home Grown institutions bought out by other companies.


Now Wachovia.

Wachovia was very profitable and stable and was bought out by First Union just a couple of years ago.

First Union decided to keep the Wachovia name due to its uniqueness and too many banks and lending institutions use the word First in their name.

Now the Wachovia brand name, founded right here in Winston-Salem in 1879, is gone - absorbed into Wells Fargo.

Its sad but sadder to see all of these superb brands and services simply go into the sunset.

Since I live in the original Wachovia tract founded in 1766, perhaps I can lay claim to the Wachovia name.

[Arrogance]

I hate seeing what has happened here on a local level.

Piedmont Airlines
Holly Farms
RJReynolds

These were all successful Home Grown institutions bought out by other companies.


Now Wachovia.

Wachovia was very profitable and stable and was bought out by First Union just a couple of years ago.

First Union decided to keep the Wachovia name due to its uniqueness and too many banks and lending institutions use the word First in their name.

Now the Wachovia brand name, founded right here in Winston-Salem in 1879, is gone - absorbed into Wells Fargo.

Its sad but sadder to see all of these superb brands and services simply go into the sunset.

Since I live in the original Wachovia tract founded in 1766, perhaps I can lay claim to the Wachovia name.

Can relate to this to a certain extent, Circuit City HQ is (was) in my hometown and there are (were) many stores in the area.
Down side to the liquidation is that the same company which handled Linens N Things is in charge of CC's.

As for future collapses, I can't see how Kmart stays operational

[Gerry]

Krispy Kreme is also founded and based here in the Winston Salem, NC area.

I see a Closed sign not too far in the distant future.

[draggar]

Its clear now that we're turning towards "mega-retailers" (large & nationwide chains). Another step towards Idiocracy. I'm just waiting to see a Costco that has it's own transit system...

Krispy Kreme - sadly, I can see them going, I bet it's hard to compete with Dunkins but I still see a lot of their products in the grocery stores.

If its the same company handling the CC liquidation sale that handled LnT, then I am NOT going to shop there. They sold me a defective grill (sealed in the box) and refused to exchange it or give me a refuld - their excuse is that I should have tried it out in the store (what, did they expect me to have a cookout?). I ended up protesting the charges and throwing it out a few months later.

IMO - it's highly deceptive to have the store's name on the store, the employee's uniforms, bags, and receipts when it's not them.

I don't see any more grocers going out there, Albertson's is mostly gone now so it's just Publix, Winn Dixie, and Whole Foods, but I think Publix and Winn Dixie are going to start hurting in a few years when more super Walmarts & Super Targets appear. Lower prices = more customers.

I also think Petco might have some issues in the next year or so. PetSmart is being extremely aggressive, even with building new stores now very close to PetCo locations.

I also don't think the new CompUSA (backed by Tiger Direct) is going to last long.

[JMJ]

Heard rumor that Old Navy (not sure about their other brands) might be one of the next. Get use to it folks there will be many more.

[Commerce]

Can relate to this to a certain extent, Circuit City HQ is (was) in my hometown and there are (were) many stores in the area.
Down side to the liquidation is that the same company which handled Linens N Things is in charge of CC's.

As for future collapses, I can't see how Kmart stays operational

Hmm, well let's see, all they have to do is borrow money to buy some of the other deals all those finance people say are out there. Wasn't that the way they bought Sears to get themselves out of bankrupcty the last time... oh wait, never mind.

-Commerce

[Gerry]

Heard rumor that Old Navy (not sure about their other brands) might be one of the next. Get use to it folks there will be many more.

We had a local Old Navy the scene of a robbery and murder just recently.

A guard from Brinks was walking into the store with a bag of cash. Someone was waiting for the money delivery.

The guard entered the store and the robbery suspect walked in behind him.

The robber then pulled out a gun and shot the guard in the back of the head.

Horrible and so cowardly.

Not a word was spoken and all of this caught on camera.

The guard was 23 and a father of 3, I believe, and lived in Charlotte.

Thus far no clues and no suspects.





Krispy Kreme - sadly, I can see them going, I bet it's hard to compete with Dunkins but I still see a lot of their products in the grocery stores.

Yes, once the darling of Wall Street. Stock was highly successful when they went public. Some quickly made millionaires.

Expansion and growth and franchise purchases were exceptionally lucrative.

Then, it happened...

Adkins diet (remember the no carbohydrates?) craze hit and sales plummeted.

Krispy Kreme then imploded - its called "cooking the books". Falsified earnings statements and fines by the SEC.

Stock dropped to the point it was worthless.

And now the economy. People are cutting back on all the extras and frills.

It is sad to drive by their World Headquarters and see their sign and know

CompUSA

A model of how not to perform customer service.

[HarveyJ]

Pizza Hut's going down already.
They massively screwed up in the UK when attempting to turn into Pasta Hut.

Draggar: Bah, you need to relax. Idiocracy's not going to happen on the simple fact that life will be unsustainable on the planet at that point.
In the meantime, have some electrolytes. It's what plants crave. Now excuse me, I have to go and watch someone get savagely kicked in the testicles on YouTube.

[thevirtual]

In my area a great restaurant chain, RJ Gators, closed their doors. :(

Circuit City is on the way out, Linens and Things are gone, JoAnne fabrics are gone. Many banks are gone and/or changed names.

So - who does everyone think will be next?

I think stores like Target and Walmart will survive. Home Depot and Lowes will survive. Staples and Office Max will survive. I also think most wholesale clubs will survive (Sams, BJ's, Costco etc.).

I think our next casualties will be:
Office Max (if they aren't already on their way out)
EB Games is going to have a tough time competing with Game Stop (even though GS is a huge rip off).

I wouldn't be too overly surprised if Sears was also on the list.

You included Office Max on both lists? Maybe that was a mistake.

Eb games and Game Stop are the same thing.

Sears already owns K-mart and Lands End. Also they provide a needed service as well as a parts/repair service.

Next up: maybe Crispy Cremes. My local Crispy cremes franchise closed down just months after setting up shop.

Also, maybe Price Chopper?

[Arrogance]

You included Office Max on both lists? Maybe that was a mistake.

May have been referring to Office Depot?

Can't really tell much difference between them, Staples and Office Max

[draggar]

Draggar: Bah, you need to relax. Idiocracy's not going to happen on the simple fact that life will be unsustainable on the planet at that point.
In the meantime, have some electrolytes. It's what plants crave. Now excuse me, I have to go and watch someone get savagely kicked in the testicles on YouTube.

*lol* Water? You mean like out of the toilet?

You included Office Max on both lists? Maybe that was a mistake.

May have been referring to Office Depot?

Can't really tell much difference between them, Staples and Office Max

I've noticed, for a long time, Office Max is the least popular of the three (also including Office Depot and Staples). Maybe it's just here but OM is always empty, except a couple of people while Staples and OD are pretty busy. The OM stores also look old, are very dirty, and have horrible prices.

Eb games and Game Stop are the same thing.

I didn't know GS owned EB - it kinda surprises me soncisering the ripoff GS is w/ used games (hmm, used for $43 or new for $44 or go elsewhere and get new for $30?).

Sears already owns K-mart and Lands End. Also they provide a needed service as well as a parts/repair service.

I think if a major department store is going to go down, it'll be Sears - I think the only thing keeping them going right now is the economy (people in malls are skipping stores like Macy's and Dillards to go to Sears now) but I'm sure they'll have a hard time competing with Target and Walmart.

[thevirtual]

I think if a major department store is going to go down, it'll be Sears - I think the only thing keeping them going right now is the economy (people in malls are skipping stores like Macy's and Dillards to go to Sears now) but I'm sure they'll have a hard time competing with Target and Walmart.

The current economic state must cause great losses for all department stores. I don't see Sears going down especially if the economy gets better. Also those stores don't offer home appliances and repairs.