The Official "Business Destroyed By Lockdown" Thread

[BugI02]

I hope everyone realizes that it will make it difficult to stop Bezos from taking over the world if we have to buy everything from Amazon. I still like to try on shoes and clothing without getting shipping companies involved

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I know our Lowes has pretty much replaced Craftsman stuff for their Kobalt stuff. I think they still sell it but the red stuff is seemingly everywhere now.

Black & Decker bought Craftsman. Lowes and Home Depot both are pushing their in-house brands because, of course, that's more profitable for them. That is a risk of buying a private label and not having your own retail space, you're often competing against someone who has limited incentive to allow you to displace their own offerings.

How old are the people buying most of the tools these days? How many have a positive association with Craftsman? I would guess most people under, say, 45, don't have a strong attachment to the brand. I'd also say people born outside the US don't have a strong attachment to the brand.

Visit: https://www.kobalttools.com/ now visit: https://www.craftsman.com/?gclid=Cj...2VKXfnBtSXYLQRhCVtisCB-6M9OljyWRoCUY8QAvD_BwE

Who's marketing to a younger audience? Who's engaged in better "lifestyle marketing"? Pretty obvious to me. I still have a positive association with Craftsman, but I bet I'm on the younger end of their target demographic these days.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Black & Decker bought Craftsman. Lowes and Home Depot both are pushing their in-house brands because, of course, that's more profitable for them. That is a risk of buying a private label and not having your own retail space, you're often competing against someone who has limited incentive to allow you to displace their own offerings.

How old are the people buying most of the tools these days? How many have a positive association with Craftsman? I would guess most people under, say, 45, don't have a strong attachment to the brand. I'd also say people born outside the US don't have a strong attachment to the brand.

Visit: https://www.kobalttools.com/ now visit: https://www.craftsman.com/?gclid=Cj...2VKXfnBtSXYLQRhCVtisCB-6M9OljyWRoCUY8QAvD_BwE

Who's marketing to a younger audience? Who's engaged in better "lifestyle marketing"? Pretty obvious to me. I still have a positive association with Craftsman, but I bet I'm on the younger end of their target demographic these days.

If memory serves, B&D bought up a bunch of them a few years ago, including Dewalt, Porter Cable, and Delta. I used to be a Craftsman fan years ago and still have a bunch of their tools. But I got tired of their parts and consumables that could only be bought at Sears and found out there are better manufacturers out there.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I hope everyone realizes that it will make it difficult to stop Bezos from taking over the world if we have to buy everything from Amazon. I still like to try on shoes and clothing without getting shipping companies involved

I get that. But it sure is nice having all of the choices available at the click of a mouse. When you live in a small town, the days of having to go to the “big malls” to find what you’re looking for are long gone. America, what a country.

 

[MarkC]

I get that. But it sure is nice having all of the choices available at the click of a mouse. When you live in a small town, the days of having to go to the “big malls” to find what you’re looking for are long gone. America, what a country.

Spot on; living slightly "out here," I REALLY like it when the Big Brown Truck and its friends bring products to the house.

When I do go to the "big city" of Greenwood for what I need or want to get in person, I have many other options other than the mall. I cannot recall the last time I actually set foot in a shopping mall.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Spot on; living slightly "out here," I REALLY like it when the Big Brown Truck and its friends bring products to the house.

When I do go to the "big city" of Greenwood for what I need or want to get in person, I have many other options other than the mall. I cannot recall the last time I actually set foot in a shopping mall.

Me neither. Our closest “mall” is in Bloomington. I had to get a new suit a couple of years ago and I think that’s the last time I went there. Even then, I didn’t go in the mall itself, just one of the stores that had an entrance to the outside.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Spot on; living slightly "out here," I REALLY like it when the Big Brown Truck and its friends bring products to the house.

When I do go to the "big city" of Greenwood for what I need or want to get in person, I have many other options other than the mall. I cannot recall the last time I actually set foot in a shopping mall.

I don't remember the last time I was in one either. It would have been Greenwood, but I'm pretty sure it's been at least 2 years or more. I always felt disoriented when I'd first walk in. Always took me a few minutes to get the "lay of the land".

 

[printcraft]

So here's a question. Do you think Las Vegas will survive in anything like it's previous form?

Housing sales are plummeting. Even if things start to reopen, will there be workers interested in returning? Can the city maintain it's infrastructure without the income of tourism? Will people go back to Vegas even when things are 'normal' again?

My wife bought tickets for the family to go and see The Who in concert in Vegas as a surprise Christmas gift.
We were supposed to be gone this coming weekend.
At least she got a refund for the hotel, plane and concert tickets.
We'll be going back to Vegas if they reschedule later in the year or next year.

 

[spencer rifle]

Looks like I'm off to Lowe's to get my Craftsman 2" extender replaced - destroyed it taking off a lug nut. A FREAKING LUG NUT! What the hell do they put those on with?

 

[nra4ever]

Unfortunately looks like Steak ‘n Shake can be added to the list. It was really affordable at the end.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Looks like I'm off to Lowe's to get my Craftsman 2" extender replaced - destroyed it taking off a lug nut. A FREAKING LUG NUT! What the hell do they put those on with?

Air tools set to "effing gorilla" it seems like.

Same thing the new kid in the shop the dealership lets change your oil.

 

[Ingomike]

Unfortunately looks like Steak ‘n Shake can be added to the list. It was really affordable at the end.

Not all, just 50 some of the over 600 stores...

 

[hoosierdoc]

Unfortunately looks like Steak ‘n Shake can be added to the list. It was really affordable at the end.

what?! all steak n shakes?

 

[dusty88]

Assigning all these losses to the "lockdowns" ignores several realities. For example, OpenTable showed reservations at restaurants dropping off drastically before any government restrictions. A pandemic is going to cause economic issues, regardless of government actions.

Second, some of these businesses were already declining.

Some were expanding like crazy. I mean, I love all the breweries in Indiana and hoped to visit more of them but have often wondered how many you can add and keep them all open.

And then there is the overall national public and private debt. That affects a business's ability to bounce back. If the problems really are just due to shutdowns, a healthy business will rebound quickly (except for maybe things like cruise companies or travel agents). But we've enticed borrowing through decades of low interest rates. That sort of thing should have been saved for this disaster. Now that we actually have a disaster, recovery will be extremely difficult.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Logans Steakhouses closed nationwide.

Don Halls Guesthouse in Fort Wayne. This was a large hotel/conference center/restaurants which just closed. There rooms were booked every weekend for wedding receptions. I can only imagine how many brides are now rushing around trying to find another place for their reception.

Logan's had been on life support for years, along withmounting debt

Shame about Hall's, Myself (once a week) and 4 other company drivers used to stay over night there twice a week on over night deliveries to N.E.I. But if I remember correctly, Hall had other restaurant failures in Ft. Wayen previously, so maybe this was a mismanagement issue.

Stacked Pickle - and I'm tired of people saying "I didn't like their food anyway". who cares. it was a successful business that employed a lot of people. now it's gone .

SP had location issues, some in under performing areas, others that also was also I.U.P.A's and moved to right into another U.P.A. that was only intensified because of relocation cost.

Unfortunately looks like Steak ‘n Shake can be added to the list. It was really affordable at the end.

Steak and Shake was doing just fine until Biglari Holding purchased them and went on a over zealous expansion way to fast, couple with tons of locations having serious health code violation, personal and quality issues.
Part of S&S's problem is that while they have a quality menu to an extent, when you bastardise your menu by lowering you prices across the board from 3.99 to 4.99 you take a serious hit on profits, even on a 24/7
operation like them. You better be White Castle packed @ 3am and have the personal to make it work.


JC Penny had been failing for 20+ years. Sears quality diminished by huge margins, it showed with their tools, went down hill fast after the Kmart purchase. K-Mart showed you can't buy you way into more business after declaring bankruptcy.

 

[Trigger Time]

Roscos tacos in greenwood

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Roscos tacos in greenwood

They've got a location at Bluff and Southport too. Did that one close as well? I've never eaten there, but DoggyMama used to like them.

 

[Expat]

Luccheses in Elkhart.

 

[femurphy77]

what?! all steak n shakes?

At least another 50 across the corporation. The funny thing is that the ones in Martinsville and Mooresville have big signs on them saying Franchise Available. Yeah there's a good investment.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Assigning all these losses to the "lockdowns" ignores several realities. For example, OpenTable showed reservations at restaurants dropping off drastically before any government restrictions. A pandemic is going to cause economic issues, regardless of government actions.

Second, some of these businesses were already declining.

Some were expanding like crazy. I mean, I love all the breweries in Indiana and hoped to visit more of them but have often wondered how many you can add and keep them all open.

And then there is the overall national public and private debt. That affects a business's ability to bounce back. If the problems really are just due to shutdowns, a healthy business will rebound quickly (except for maybe things like cruise companies or travel agents). But we've enticed borrowing through decades of low interest rates. That sort of thing should have been saved for this disaster. Now that we actually have a disaster, recovery will be extremely difficult.

Buuuuuuut..... If we’re going to count the death of a cancer patient with only weeks to live but who had the CV as a CV death, it’s only fair to count a business with underlying financial co-morbidities that die during the pandemic as a CV death. Is it not?