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Space Robot
Sep 3, 2011

That poo poo aint nothin', check out what my town has.





It has an aquarium, a small lake with fish and ducks, and live alligators. Plus hotel rooms with balconies looking over the store.
It also boasts the largest free standing elevator in the country, that you have to pay $10 to ride to the top of.

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tenspott
Aug 1, 2002

by FactsAreUseless

Barudak posted:

It's not a matter of ignoring them, it's just that's not how they think about it. They focus on the activities they are supporting, which combined with their advertising media of choice, typically skews younger since that's who is typically most active outside. That said their typical consumer is definitely well north of 30. They're genuinely pretty good about not trying to put their consumers in specific boxes and make conscious efforts to avoid over-catering to men despite what generic data would say.

You start out in 2004 by saying, “Hipster. Hipster. Hipster.” By 2008 you can't say “hipster” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like co-op, fair trade and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about sustainability, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] millennials buy more than Xers. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the scene problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We cater to certain activities,” is much more abstract than even the co-op thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Hipster, hipster.”

pants in my pants
Aug 18, 2009

by Smythe
that stupid building is also on the tennessee drivers' license, of which one is in my pocket now.

still, better than Knoxville's landmark 80s-tastic sunsphere, most famously a wig shop Nelson knocks down in a Simpsons episode (s7, best season) which is also on the license.

REI is cool because the guys at the knox one don't give a gently caress when i ask for a road or mountain bike brake cable and sell it to me for $3 without asking me questions. they are also knowledgeable and helpful but don't ask annoying questions like "what are you working on" so it's far less irritating and cheaper than a bike shop, thus i give them my money for small parts (and i buy a lot of brake cables.) i hope all local bike shops go out of business. it seems like amazon and company are already doing a great job killing them. i for one could not be happier.

edit: bike shops are awful to deal with and i cannot imagine spending actual money at one. last time i was near one it was for a recall of defective Shimano cranks last fall and they tried to ransom the (decent but low end) bike back to me when shimano already paid them for the labor and sent them the parts. gently caress that. eventually i bitched enough and they begrudgingly gave it back to me.

pants in my pants has a new favorite as of 01:42 on May 7, 2016

naem
May 29, 2011

I brought my $700 trek-something to get a spoke fixed and a new tire put on and my local bike shop gave me the shittiest attitude, liked I'd walked into their basement cool guy club and not a business I was going to pay $200 bucks to.

And they were a bunch of scrawny little spandex dorks too so when I got visibly upset and like, furrowed my brow or whatever they got all scared and ran and hid behind the counter until I coaxed them out like "it's ok guys here you go, yeeees money, money goood, me freeeeeeind"

dreezy
Mar 4, 2015

yeah, rip.

shadowvine118 posted:

That poo poo aint nothin', check out what my town has.





It has an aquarium, a small lake with fish and ducks, and live alligators. Plus hotel rooms with balconies looking over the store.
It also boasts the largest free standing elevator in the country, that you have to pay $10 to ride to the top of.

you forgot the bowling alley.

SLICK GOKU BABY
Jun 12, 2001

Hey Hey Let's Go! 喧嘩する
大切な物を protect my balls


5er posted:

Don't forget the recently promoted hipster that figures it's time to get a bicycle. So they get a $2,500 carbon fiber, $700 Yakima roof rack system for their Volvo, $1,500 in Fred accessories for the bike (meanwhile figuring they only need one waterbottle/cage), $1k for tops / shorts they aren't bothering to try on until they're home, $1,000 for helmet/shoes/gloves, all top end because reasons. Slap that poo poo on the credit card! REI.

But you need all this in order to do the two bicycle rides around your local town park before you realize biking loving sucks and give it up. Then you spend the next 6 months trying to sell everything on Craigslist for retail prices.

Cliff Racer
Mar 24, 2007

by Lowtax

two forty posted:

that stupid building is also on the tennessee drivers' license, of which one is in my pocket now.

still, better than Knoxville's landmark 80s-tastic sunsphere, most famously a wig shop Nelson knocks down in a Simpsons episode (s7, best season) which is also on the license.

REI is cool because the guys at the knox one don't give a gently caress when i ask for a road or mountain bike brake cable and sell it to me for $3 without asking me questions. they are also knowledgeable and helpful but don't ask annoying questions like "what are you working on" so it's far less irritating and cheaper than a bike shop, thus i give them my money for small parts (and i buy a lot of brake cables.) i hope all local bike shops go out of business. it seems like amazon and company are already doing a great job killing them. i for one could not be happier.

edit: bike shops are awful to deal with and i cannot imagine spending actual money at one. last time i was near one it was for a recall of defective Shimano cranks last fall and they tried to ransom the (decent but low end) bike back to me when shimano already paid them for the labor and sent them the parts. gently caress that. eventually i bitched enough and they begrudgingly gave it back to me.

I work for a group that sells to these people and hearing this is a breath of fresh air after all the farting about LBSes I have to deal with.

edit: The best part is covering the MRSPs on all the products because the LBSes sell them for more.

Cliff Racer has a new favorite as of 04:12 on May 7, 2016

Elusif
Jun 9, 2008

VikingSkull posted:

it's the weirdest loving paradox but the last 17 years I spent at an auto auction bears it out

the entire car will disintegrate around you but gently caress me if the engine doesn't start

e- keep in mind, for every poo poo Impala or Daewoo rebadge blowing up at 40k, there's 5 Silverados with 300k on them

I got my 94 c1500 4 years ago and have spent exactly 120 dollars on maintenance on it. Refurbished starter motor, a couple air filters, and 2 oil changes. It came with 159k miles on it and it is now at 167k. Starting to have a very small, slow, annoying leak from somewhere around the oil pan though.

FlamingLiberal
Jan 18, 2009

Would you like to play a game?



Sports Authority announced tonight that they intend to have all stores closed by late August

dreezy
Mar 4, 2015

yeah, rip.

FlamingLiberal posted:

Sports Authority announced tonight that they intend to have all stores closed by late August

hopefully I can score some weights in the closeout sale.

red19fire
May 26, 2010

FlamingLiberal posted:

Sports Authority announced tonight that they intend to have all stores closed by late August

dreezy posted:

hopefully I can score some weights in the closeout sale.

Gonna get so jacked.

I thought they were only closing 100 out of 400+ stores nationwide? The closest SA :v: near me actually has a help wanted sign up. I wonder if it'll be like Blockbuster where the profitable stores can limp along without corporate support.

a turnip
Jul 22, 2015

by Shine
people who sell desktop computers




travel agents

a turnip
Jul 22, 2015

by Shine
my jizz

a turnip
Jul 22, 2015

by Shine
wait none of those are companies

FlamingLiberal
Jan 18, 2009

Would you like to play a game?



red19fire posted:

Gonna get so jacked.

I thought they were only closing 100 out of 400+ stores nationwide? The closest SA :v: near me actually has a help wanted sign up. I wonder if it'll be like Blockbuster where the profitable stores can limp along without corporate support.
They did an auction to see if anyone wanted to buy the other stores, and the bids were not enough so they are moving forward with total liquidation.

Haier
Aug 10, 2007

by Lowtax

FlamingLiberal posted:

Sports Authority announced tonight that they intend to have all stores closed by late August

red19fire posted:

Gonna get so jacked.

I thought they were only closing 100 out of 400+ stores nationwide? The closest SA :v: near me actually has a help wanted sign up. I wonder if it'll be like Blockbuster where the profitable stores can limp along without corporate support.

The last email from them said they were only closing some. The new email from them says:

quote:

May 25, 2016

Dear Customers,

Sports Authority and its predecessor companies have been serving the sporting goods needs of our customers since 1919. It is with great sadness that we are intending to close all of our stores by the end of August.

We will be holding store closing sales at all of our locations that will allow you to take advantage of big discounts on great brands.

On behalf of the entire Sports Authority team, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to our customers for their years of loyalty. It has been a pleasure to serve you and your family.

Haier
Aug 10, 2007

by Lowtax
I just got SA's going out of business sale email. Only up to 30% off on some items. Now that full MSRP store can match the normal prices of other stores.

Iron Crowned
May 6, 2003

by Hand Knit

Haier posted:

I just got SA's going out of business sale email. Only up to 30% off on some items. Now that full MSRP store can match the normal prices of other stores.

Something Awful dot com doesn't sell anything though

Ichabod Tane
Oct 30, 2005

A most notable
coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality.


https://youtu.be/_Ojd0BdtMBY?t=4
Something Awful has been going out of business every time low tax has a his system fit / nervous breakdown at one of his pedophile or mentally ill moderators.

Ichabod Tane has a new favorite as of 18:08 on May 26, 2016

ferroque
Oct 27, 2007



Super top heavy management that doesn't know what the gently caress they are doing.

A failed merger with Officemax/OfficeDepot that hurt more than just doing nothing.

Staples is hosed.

e: only good thing they have is buy online, pickup in store and free shipping if you're a rewards member although that probably costs them a lot.

ferroque has a new favorite as of 18:22 on May 26, 2016

Space Robot
Sep 3, 2011

Ferroque posted:



Super top heavy management that doesn't know what the gently caress they are doing.

A failed merger with Officemax/OfficeDepot that hurt more than just doing nothing.

Staples is hosed.

e: only good thing they have is buy online, pickup in store and free shipping if you're a rewards member although that probably costs them a lot.

The Staples nearest my house, which was in a shopping center only a couple years old to begin with, closed down and is now used as an occasional store for selling Halloween stuff. The rest of the year it's empty.

The same shopping center has a Sports Authority, a Petco, a Chipotle, a Best Buy, a froze yogurt place, a mattress store, a Target, and a Panera Bread. Outside of Sports Authority, which one of those do you think will go under first?

The_Franz
Aug 8, 2003

Ferroque posted:



Super top heavy management that doesn't know what the gently caress they are doing.

A failed merger with Officemax/OfficeDepot that hurt more than just doing nothing.

Staples is hosed.

e: only good thing they have is buy online, pickup in store and free shipping if you're a rewards member although that probably costs them a lot.

I'm surprised that all of those office supply stores lasted this long. It seems like there is never anyone in them. Ever.

I can't imagine that selling a few rulers and ink cartridges even covers the monthly electric bill at most locations.

Booblord Zagats
Oct 30, 2011


Pork Pro

shadowvine118 posted:

The Staples nearest my house, which was in a shopping center only a couple years old to begin with, closed down and is now used as an occasional store for selling Halloween stuff. The rest of the year it's empty.

The same shopping center has a Sports Authority, a Petco, a Chipotle, a Best Buy, a froze yogurt place, a mattress store, a Target, and a Panera Bread. Outside of Sports Authority, which one of those do you think will go under first?

Frozen yogurt is just bullshit ice cream and people are waking up to that fact, so thats my guess

Tipps
Apr 18, 2006


party in the front

business in the back

Ferroque posted:



Super top heavy management that doesn't know what the gently caress they are doing.

A failed merger with Officemax/OfficeDepot that hurt more than just doing nothing.

Staples is hosed.

e: only good thing they have is buy online, pickup in store and free shipping if you're a rewards member although that probably costs them a lot.

I needed a motherboard the other day and since my usual brick-and-mortar place was closed for the night and I was impatient, I checked out Staples to see if they had some in stock since they sold them through their website.

Turns out the "computer parts" section of the nearest store was an endcap hastily stuffed with external hard-drives, a few outdated video cards, and 2-3 weak PSUs.

I'm not expecting Radio Shack levels of tech minutiae but jesus if you advertise computer parts for sale online, it wouldn't hurt to have a few in stock in your stores too.

The_Franz posted:

I'm surprised that all of those office supply stores lasted this long. It seems like there is never anyone in them. Ever.

I can't imagine that selling a few rulers and ink cartridges even covers the monthly electric bill at most locations.

I actually worked at one for about a year back in 2006-2007. Back then, the store was given so few "hours" for staff that every department except tech was expected to be staffed by only 1 person (the tech department had 2-3), so the ability to provide customer service while also doing your other job tasks was near impossible.

Tech was by far where the most money came from - but as others have noted the profit margins on computers is razor thin and the big cash comes from upselling tech accessories. That's probably why their marketing model seems to have gone from promoting the sale of computers/laptops to angry birds merchandise and cell phone cases.

Tipps has a new favorite as of 19:31 on May 26, 2016

Space Robot
Sep 3, 2011

Booblord Zagats posted:

Frozen yogurt is just bullshit ice cream and people are waking up to that fact, so thats my guess

That, and the newest fad seems to be Gelato and juice bars.

Booblord Zagats
Oct 30, 2011


Pork Pro

shadowvine118 posted:

That, and the newest fad seems to be Gelato and juice bars.

Sorbet > Snow Cones > Frogurt > Gelato > Ice Cream > Partially gelatinated non-dairy malt drink with some schnapps in it

Iron Crowned
May 6, 2003

by Hand Knit
I like Frozen Yogurt

wyoak
Feb 14, 2005

a glass case of emotion

Fallen Rib

Booblord Zagats posted:

Sorbet > Snow Cones > Frogurt > Gelato > Ice Cream > Partially gelatinated non-dairy malt drink with some schnapps in it

snow cones don't belong in this list

Iron Crowned
May 6, 2003

by Hand Knit
ALso, where does Gogurt fit on that list?

new phone who dis
May 24, 2007

by VideoGames
Morbid Hound
Twitter announced changes this week that immediately resulted in a fall to record lows and a panicked sell-off that looks just like a body hitting the pavement. It's back up a bit today, but it's been trending down for months and nobody has anything good to say about it. Their idiot CEO is "urging patience".

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/05/25/twitter-ceo-urges-patience-investors-fret-stock-price/84863100/

NihilismNow
Aug 31, 2003

Tipps posted:

I needed a motherboard the other day and since my usual brick-and-mortar place was closed for the night and I was impatient, I checked out Staples to see if they had some in stock since they sold them through their website.

Turns out the "computer parts" section of the nearest store was an endcap hastily stuffed with external hard-drives, a few outdated video cards, and 2-3 weak PSUs.

I'm not expecting Radio Shack levels of tech minutiae but jesus if you advertise computer parts for sale online, it wouldn't hurt to have a few in stock in your stores too.

The only computer stores that survive here (and have actual stock) are the ones on industrial estates far away from regular retail locations that are also webshops. They serve a large metro area and have next to no showroom. You just show up, select what you want on the computer terminal they have set up in their small showroom (or talk to a human if you roll that way) and they fetch it for you from the warehouse. In and out in 10 minutes.

Roylicious
Feb 21, 2012

Braver than the cops
ain't afraid of no chaps
If they steppin up on me
I just start bustin some caps
Gelato is pretty good but the thing is 99% of the time that isn't gelato like the gelato shop in Rome makes it.

Booblord Zagats
Oct 30, 2011


Pork Pro

Roylicious posted:

Gelato is pretty good but the thing is 99% of the time that isn't gelato like the gelato shop in Rome makes it.

Agreed. Even gelato in Mexico is better

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Ferroque posted:



Super top heavy management that doesn't know what the gently caress they are doing.

A failed merger with Officemax/OfficeDepot that hurt more than just doing nothing.

Staples is hosed.

e: only good thing they have is buy online, pickup in store and free shipping if you're a rewards member although that probably costs them a lot.

Staples has been terrible for a while. Their prices are incredible for how large they are, and as someone said, their computer selection is awful. I looked at graphics cards there just out of curiosity recently and I cannot imagine anyone paying their prices.

Tipps
Apr 18, 2006


party in the front

business in the back

NihilismNow posted:

The only computer stores that survive here (and have actual stock) are the ones on industrial estates far away from regular retail locations that are also webshops. They serve a large metro area and have next to no showroom. You just show up, select what you want on the computer terminal they have set up in their small showroom (or talk to a human if you roll that way) and they fetch it for you from the warehouse. In and out in 10 minutes.

This is exactly the case in Vancouver.

If I need computer parts in person, I have two options: I can buy online from NCIX for in-store pickup at their "showroom" store in the city, which is basically just a small room with a sales counter that handles incoming repairs/returns and deliveries and has very little to no actual stock.

Or I can take the 25-minute train out to the suburbs and go to the giant Memory Express store and get something in person.

While there are a handful of them in the city, generic options like Best Buy and Staples are completely useless for computer parts. The extent of their tech departments is selling overpriced pre-built machines and accessories, cell phone cases, and row upon row of earbuds/headphones.

ferroque
Oct 27, 2007

I work at staples and yeah, most of their computer products in the store are just to sell to people who don't know any better to buy online. Seriously, USB-B cables are like $22 in the store but around $7 online - on our own website - so if you know what you are doing you can just make us price match it to the online price. It's just to trick people who don't know what they are doing.

I work in tech sales and the amount of poo poo we have to push is astounding. The staples credit card, rewards card, insurance on everything, attaching ink, tech services on new computers, this poo poo called "liquid armour" that's supposed to replace screen protectors but doesn't work... it's just overwhelming. I hate it when I have to ring at the register because the amount of poo poo you might have to ask just takes so long. They want you to get people through the line quick but also expect you to grill them on everything.

Ink accounts for about 25% of sales in my district, btw. Next is paper, combined with ink it's around 40% of in store sales. The copy print center at my store is actually really busy all the time, I think if Staples stopped trying to be a consumer electronics store they would do a lot better - it's just trying to do a million things at once. Why the gently caress do we sell verizon phones and data plans here? Who the gently caress wants to come to staples to do that? And even then, every once in awhile when someone comes to look at our phones it's such a hassle because nobody really is comfortable with the Verizon POS, and it's annoying to spend 25 minutes with someone doing that poo poo because we are always understaffed as gently caress.

ferroque has a new favorite as of 19:50 on May 26, 2016

Ichabod Tane
Oct 30, 2005

A most notable
coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality.


https://youtu.be/_Ojd0BdtMBY?t=4
Dude, get out of retail.

NihilismNow
Aug 31, 2003
Suprised ink and paper sell that well. Most companies i work with have a full service contract. You have a bunch of paper and toner in the supply closet and long before you run out the guy from Xerox/Canon/Ricoh comes and brings you new paper/toner.
Is it mostly consumers and very small businesses that still buy ink and paper in retail stores?

TontoCorazon
Aug 18, 2007


Ferroque posted:

I work at staples and yeah, most of their computer products in the store are just to sell to people who don't know any better to buy online. Seriously, USB-B cables are like $22 in the store but around $7 online - on our own website - so if you know what you are doing you can just make us price match it to the online price. It's just to trick people who don't know what they are doing.

I work in tech sales and the amount of poo poo we have to push is astounding. The staples credit card, rewards card, insurance on everything, attaching ink, tech services on new computers, this poo poo called "liquid armour" that's supposed to replace screen protectors but doesn't work... it's just overwhelming. I hate it when I have to ring at the register because the amount of poo poo you might have to ask just takes so long. They want you to get people through the line quick but also expect you to grill them on everything.

Ink accounts for about 25% of sales in my district, btw. Next is paper, combined with ink it's around 40% of in store sales. The copy print center at my store is actually really busy all the time, I think if Staples stopped trying to be a consumer electronics store they would do a lot better - it's just trying to do a million things at once. Why the gently caress do we sell verizon phones and data plans here? Who the gently caress wants to come to staples to do that? And even then, every once in awhile when someone comes to look at our phones it's such a hassle because nobody really is comfortable with the Verizon POS, and it's annoying to spend 25 minutes with someone doing that poo poo because we are always understaffed as gently caress.

Liquid armor can go suck a dick. I'm a computer technician at staples and yeah the crazy amount of poo poo they have you pushing is so loving stupid. And idiots in corporate wonder why most customers would rather shop online than be bothered with all that poo poo.

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TontoCorazon
Aug 18, 2007


Blacktoll posted:

Dude, get out of retail.

Also yes

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