the ferret economic indicator
My simple economic indicator: empty stores.
In malls, on your local main street & Broadway.
The Woodbridge Mall in Edison NJ was once a hopping place, full of mall rats.
No empty stores. A good variety of places to shop: a comic shop with an upper level,
a huge Teacher's/Home-Schooling shop, Guylians Sporting Goods.
Guylians's sporting goods was a HUGE store with a climbing wall
and unique stuff, such as a HUGE selection of swim gear (ideal for swim teams).
Dick's Sporting Goods took over and destroyed any differentiation:
closed the climbing wall, reduced selections, etc.
It's just like any other sporting goods store, reminiscent of Herman's Sporting Goods.
I cannot fathom how the Teacher's Store closed with so many people allegedly "home schooling".
I guess they just use the glass-teat: the computer/laptop/tablet
and stuff like "ABC Mouse" as electronic baby-sitters :-(
The most recent time I was at the Woodbridge Mall, it was clearly dying.
Many empty stores. Few people in the mall.
Kinda like the Monty Python "Cheese Shop" sketch
"it's certainly clean!" "Yes, it's uncontaminated by any shoppers or merchandise!"
Woodbridge NEVER had a food court like the nearby Menlo Mall,
having no clue that it's a major attractor.
I chatted with some store owners who were having their final sale.
There's just no "foot traffic". It is not worth the cost of a mall business
when the mall's not generating interest or attracting people to come inside.
I didn't even notice that all Brookstone stores are gone:
https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/02/news/companies/brookstone-bankruptcy/index.html
What grinds my gears is how all the business analysts BLAME EVERYONE BUT THEMSELVES.
It's always "the MARKET is wrong".
No, YOU WERE WRONG! You sold the wrong stuff at the wrong time at an unsustainably high price!
One way Brookstone justified their inflated prices was a lifetime warranty.
Just bring it back to the store for a new one.
Brookstone invalidated that by no longer selling those items,
then shortening their warranty/guarantee period.
There was no justification for paying a premium for that "Brookstone" label.
My grandpa used to buy stuff from Brookstone because it was truly "hard to get tools".
Their old catalogue used to have 1-2 pages of must tools for making picture frames.
Really nice SOLID BRASS tools such as a pin-vise.
I used to shop there too.
Brookstone was kept on its toes by competitors such as The Sharper Image
and Hammacher Schlemmer. Airline travelers recognize those names
from the "sky mall" catalogue at every seat.
In recent years, all I saw in Brookstone stores were massagers, expensive bedding
and grill/BBQ accessories. Things folks buy maybe once a year or 5.
No more useful tools or impulse purchases like gifts for under $20.
I'm sorry but Brookstone made themselves irrelevant.
And so it goes. On and on, over and over.
In malls, on your local main street & Broadway.
The Woodbridge Mall in Edison NJ was once a hopping place, full of mall rats.
No empty stores. A good variety of places to shop: a comic shop with an upper level,
a huge Teacher's/Home-Schooling shop, Guylians Sporting Goods.
Guylians's sporting goods was a HUGE store with a climbing wall
and unique stuff, such as a HUGE selection of swim gear (ideal for swim teams).
Dick's Sporting Goods took over and destroyed any differentiation:
closed the climbing wall, reduced selections, etc.
It's just like any other sporting goods store, reminiscent of Herman's Sporting Goods.
I cannot fathom how the Teacher's Store closed with so many people allegedly "home schooling".
I guess they just use the glass-teat: the computer/laptop/tablet
and stuff like "ABC Mouse" as electronic baby-sitters :-(
The most recent time I was at the Woodbridge Mall, it was clearly dying.
Many empty stores. Few people in the mall.
Kinda like the Monty Python "Cheese Shop" sketch
"it's certainly clean!" "Yes, it's uncontaminated by any shoppers or merchandise!"
Woodbridge NEVER had a food court like the nearby Menlo Mall,
having no clue that it's a major attractor.
I chatted with some store owners who were having their final sale.
There's just no "foot traffic". It is not worth the cost of a mall business
when the mall's not generating interest or attracting people to come inside.
I didn't even notice that all Brookstone stores are gone:
https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/02/news/companies/brookstone-bankruptcy/index.html
What grinds my gears is how all the business analysts BLAME EVERYONE BUT THEMSELVES.
It's always "the MARKET is wrong".
No, YOU WERE WRONG! You sold the wrong stuff at the wrong time at an unsustainably high price!
One way Brookstone justified their inflated prices was a lifetime warranty.
Just bring it back to the store for a new one.
Brookstone invalidated that by no longer selling those items,
then shortening their warranty/guarantee period.
There was no justification for paying a premium for that "Brookstone" label.
My grandpa used to buy stuff from Brookstone because it was truly "hard to get tools".
Their old catalogue used to have 1-2 pages of must tools for making picture frames.
Really nice SOLID BRASS tools such as a pin-vise.
I used to shop there too.
Brookstone was kept on its toes by competitors such as The Sharper Image
and Hammacher Schlemmer. Airline travelers recognize those names
from the "sky mall" catalogue at every seat.
In recent years, all I saw in Brookstone stores were massagers, expensive bedding
and grill/BBQ accessories. Things folks buy maybe once a year or 5.
No more useful tools or impulse purchases like gifts for under $20.
I'm sorry but Brookstone made themselves irrelevant.
And so it goes. On and on, over and over.