Retail Apocalypse 465 Store Closures In 48 Hours

[Faust For ScienceParticipant 22561]

Retail Apocalypse 465 Store Closures In 48 Hours

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-02/retail-apocalypse-465-store-closures-48-hours

In the last few days four companies, Gap, JCPenney, Victoria’s Secret and Foot Locker, have announced store closings.

What the article from the link will not state is the common link to these four companies. That link is all four companies shunned working class men.

JCPenney use to be very diverse in their retail stores, offering not just women’s clothing, but men’s clothing, furniture, and other items. Then, the company decided to drop everything and mainly focus on women’s clothing.

Gap has been trying to follow the teen girl trend for so long they forget the point of a company is to make a profit.

Foot Locker when hard in on the over-prices, lower quality shoes and forced more on the brand of the month instead of quality shoes. They forgot the point of shoes is to be comfortable, useful, and endure.

Victoria’s Secret forgot that while their selection is for women, but men bought VS products to see their wives and girlfriends wear.

Along these lines, over the last few years, I have found it harder and harder, as a man, to find clothing and shoes. It is harder and harder to find clothes that are not a t-shirt and jeans, nor a high price suit.

When I go out, I do not want to look like something I only wear around the house, but on the flip side I do not want to look like I am going to a formal dinner.

And finding shoes is even worse.

Do any of you have the problem of finding good men’s clothing and shoes?

[SpiderHerderParticipant 3791]

Not really. I’m a man of jeans, t-shirts and skateboarding shoes anyway. So, not a problem.

I’m having trouble finding good quality shoes though. My outdoorsy-type quasi-hiking Merrell shoes wore out in 6 months. The traction “knobs” were hollow ! And I paid 150$ for them. So, no I’m not buying shoes from them again. They f~~~ed up.

[anonymousyamParticipant 4605]

Stores dying is not all that uncommon of a thing especially considering the chains of the past who have died in the 70’s 80’s 90’s etc especially with such populated closures like Radioshack, Payless and Toys R Us (aka thousands of Stores closing).

Do any of you have the problem of finding good men’s clothing and shoes?

Not too much but i dress cheaply and use stuff to death for example i am still wearing the same shoes despite getting them 3 years ago due to repairs which i learned how to do to them.

Just an east coast asshole who likes to curse, If you get offended by words like fuck, cunt, shit, piss, bitch or any racial slurs then you just scroll down.

[Secret Agent MGTOWParticipant 22546]

I wear stuff til i cant use it even for work clothes.

Women want everything, but want responsibility and accountability for nothing.

[SandalsParticipant 4254]

You have to go to a clothier. The shoes there are expensive. Inflation is products of same quality having rising prices. When leather shoes used to be $20, and now plastic shoes are $20, that’s a totally different product.

[CarnageParticipant 22113]

Mehhh f~~~ it.
I hope all stores close, ALL OF THEM.

To those following me, be careful, I just farted. Men those beans are killers.

[Max PowerParticipant 2721]

I am having trouble finding high-quality women…

Oh wait, that’s right… I quit looking in the late 1990’s.

[FrankOneParticipant 1435]

Looking at the scale on the chart, I see a -0.5% drop in sales month-over-month. That means the INCREASE from the previous month is canceled out. But per capita retail spending year-over-year, is INCREASING.

Retail sales are also seasonal; that is why you see it go negative once a year, cyclically, on this chart (the red bars). I don’t read much into monthly retail numbers. What are large retailer STOCK prices doing? Why is Amazon announcing NEW grocery stores? That speaks more about the STRONG condition of retail than month-over-month sales.

Shunning working class men has nothing to do with it, in my opinion.

Closures? Changing tastes, markets, competition — all have an impact. I remember when Woolco closed all their stores in the 1980’s. Circuit S~~~ty, Radio Shack, A&P, and Blockbuster are some of the larger retail closures. Women are the primary buyers for retail for households — buying clothes for children, elderly, etc so they play a more important role than men in which retailers survive and prosper.

I remember as a child, K-Mart was clean, vibrant, had a restaurant and even an arcade. Then it became shabby, ill-maintained, with prices not as low as its competition (Walmart).

Once things start going downhill, individual retailers often become saddled with debt. So it becomes ever harder to remodel stores, advertise, etc. And they have LESS buying power/room for negotiation with their suppliers, versus their larger competitors, when they start closing stores. So the downward spiral typically continues. Look at the slow death of K-Mart, for instance.

I have no problem finding good shoes, I just go over to a Red Wing store. They aren’t cheap, though! But at least work covers the $200 steel-toed boots for mid-range. AND many of their shoes are made in America (though NOT their athletic shoes).

As for other clothes, I think workman’s pants are durable — e.g. Carhartt. Moreso than the s~~~ from Walmart or Kohl’s. But again, you’ll certainly pay for it.

[Daryll55Participant 2958]

Although I think you are right in thinking men were shunned at these stores; I also think it is the Internet vs. brick & mortar issue. I used to buy shirts from J C Penney till they got extremely expensive, then the brands I loved dissappeared from JCP altogether. I bought my towels there too. The quality of their bath towels dropped and my shirts went missing, hence no reason to shop JCP anymore.
When I was married and blue-pill, I would visit VS on occasion. I was always met with skepticism there as I heard of the stories of men “pretending” to have a GF and going there just to flirt with the salesgirls. Heck, I was married and just wanted to see “Pocohantas” in a new wrap! (it was good for me too at the time) Women there were always suspicious which made it a bit uncomfortable to go there. At any rate: no Wife/GF no need for VS

Lesbians DON’T spend big money on weddings,nor do they spend $$ on a frilly little scrap of clothing for their “mate”

These stores dug their own holes: let them lie in it NFG

Marry again, Hell NO ! ( Even JESUS was hung on a cross just once)

[AwakenedParticipant 35206]

They can close the whole mall as far as I’m concerned.

In a World of Justin Beibers Be a Johnny Cash

[Daryll55Participant 2958]

Awakened wrote:

They can close the whole mall as far as I’m concerned.

A few of the older & smaller ones in my area have completely closed.

Marry again, Hell NO ! ( Even JESUS was hung on a cross just once)

[Anonymous 1]

I buy my clothes on scAMAZON. I wear khakis and dress shoes with a polo shirt when I go out of the house. Its actually cheaper than my blue jeans and sneakers. A lot cheaper, and it looks more professional too.

I haven’t been to a retail store in years and I used to hate going.

The only retail store I really miss closing down was Radio Shack because sometimes you need Op Amps, Transistors, LEDS and you need them NOW.

[GrumpyParticipant]

I buy/shop at whatever/where ever has what I want and appeals to me.
Half the time the advertisements and/or flyers state they have product x, but when you get there they are out of stock and have to order it in.
If a retailer consistently has not got what I want, I go elsewhere or I just avoid the middle woman and order right from the mfr, not a 2nd, 3rd, 4th party.

There was a time in my life when I gave a fuck. Now you have to pay ME for it

[743 roadmasterParticipant]

Trend stores. One of my ex’s always had to see the new items at the Gap, often would buy. It was a trendy to do so because her friends were doing the same thing. Same thing with Victoria. Instead of building a solid brand it road the wave and died when it came crashing down.

mgtow is its own worst enemy- https://www.campusreform.org/

[Faust For ScienceParticipant 22561]

FrankOne wrote:

Shunning working class men has nothing to do with it, in my opinion.

Closures? Changing tastes, markets, competition — all have an impact. I remember when Woolco closed all their stores in the 1980’s. Circuit S~~~ty, Radio Shack, A&P, and Blockbuster are some of the larger retail closures. Women are the primary buyers for retail for households — buying clothes for children, elderly, etc so they play a more important role than men in which retailers survive and prosper.

Look at what previously sold and discontinued. Much of the discontinued products, such as men’s clothing, tools, and furniture, appealed to men. While men are not binge buyers, they are steady buyer.

This is especially true of products and clothing used by working class men.

Men are the bottom line buy. The ones that balance out the budget of a business. They will come in buy a clothing annually, or even semi-annually, every year. But, men also prefer quality over style when is comes to clothing. Men work in their clothing, men want their clothing (and shoes) to last and not be destroyed ever ten or so machine washings.

On the other hand, women tend to binge buy. Women buy a lot at one time and try to keep up with the corporate created “trends”. Women will not shop regularly at the same place all the time. Women prefer looks over quality. Women do not care how cheaply their overpriced clothing is made as long as that clothing looks nice on them for the handful of times they plan to wear that clothing.

Those that took control of such companies as listed above were only focused on binge buying without looking at long term budget forecast. So, they disconnected products for men and focused almost solely towards women. This means that when they missed a “trend”, without regular revenue from men, their budget quickly went into the red, in a bad downward spiral.

[iMickey503Participant 12465]

I think many of you Underestimate what’s really going on here. will get to that in a bit.

Faust For Science wrote:

Do any of you have the problem of finding good men’s clothing and shoes?

Yes, I’m that F~~~~~ that loves shopping.

6 Bird Feeders that were $20 bucks originally then got marked down to $7.00, I GOT THEM FOR…. $1.25! I BOUGHT ALL OF THEM! Cuz, they make GREAT LED LAMPS!

Then, I was just looking around to see if I could get a better deal on a chainsaw. THen I went past the and saw a YELLOW STICKER..

That Yellow sticker was for Synthetic 2 stroke oil. Original price? $3.75 IT WAS ON SALE for .94 cents per bottle. So you know what I did?

I BOUGHT THE WHOLE BOX!!! ALL OF IT! And I got my Military discount on top of that! I felt like Hindu JESUS! I bought some drinks for the store staff! I saved $140 dollars! YES I was dancing. ALL THE WAY TO THE CAR!

Anyways, I like to shop at the Nordstroms Rack. I never buy stuff on full price unless I go to Nordstroms. Most of my nice clothes, I don’t wear often. As far as shoes? I got a ton. I always pick them up on sale. GOt a pair of $200 dollar shoes for $12 bucks! WHOO HOO!

I have to admit, I don’t really bother to much with wearing new clothes that often. I usually wear out my jeans till they have holes in the. I don’t care. I have plenty of slacks to last me a long time. ANd dress shirts.

I don’t really care about cost when it comes to something I like. But really, I got to slim down before I can wear the clothes I really want to buy. I was preparing for a long stint in jail, but it seems unlikely now. Hell, while I was in California, all I did was shop to past the time some days when I was not working. Man, the place is a bargain hunters paradise!

I tend to stock up on things I will use later. And when I see a good deal, I just buy as many of the pants or shirts I can. Or I just buy Merch from Youtube channels and content creators.

AS far as Really good suits? CUstom tailored just for you is the ONLY way to go. My body is very wide shoulders. Not f~~~king ass at all, and only the italian cut looks good on me. Double breasted. That’s my style.

When I firm up a bit, I might get one of these. Not sure what for, but I like it.

I like the laid back style of this cut right here. And the shirt with no tie, its the life.

And as soon as they make a Stain free version of this? DUDE.. I’m getting one.

You are all alone. If you have been falsely accused of RAPE, DV, PLEASE let all men know about the people who did this. http://register-her.net/web/guest/home

[FrankOneParticipant 1435]

This is a good chart for inflation-adjusted retail sales — https://www.macrotrends.net/1371/retail-sales-historical-chart — per capita trend also has positive slope.

I’d say most Americans just want it cheap, rather than high quality — otherwise I’d see a lot more Red Wing shoe stores, for instance. In that niche, I see ten times more discount shoe stores than high quality shoe stores. And for athletic shoes, of course, a huge focus on brands instead of quality. Red Wing is a brand too, but a quality one in my opinion. Whereas these athletic shoes, generate sales by paying NBA and other sponsors and running ads.

I would agree Sears tried to diversify too much — ‘the softer side of sears’ campaign — increasing space to women’s apparel — instead of focusing on Kenmore, Craftsmen, etc. Whilst it stumbled, big box stores were popping up all around me — Home Depot, Lowes — closer than Sears and more convenient. ‘The Softer side of Sears’ was also selling financial products, getting into online early (Prodigy), etc. Had they actually MANAGED some of these divisions well, they could have captured the market Amazon has now, but they didn’t. Lack of investment contributed in Sears’ case — shabby stores. As did the K-Mart acquisition.

With Radio Shack, they shifted to being a cell-phone store in the early 2000’s. But then when carriers started selling direct, it killed them, since cell phones were half their sales at that point. Being able to buy stereos and other electronics cheaper at big box stores OR online, also hurt them tremendously.

[The Black ScorpionParticipant 2146]

I only buy socks, shoes and underwear brand new.

Everything else is bought from a second hand store.

No doubt I have saved thousands over the years.

The greatest tragedy in life is to spend your whole life fishing only to discover that it was not fish you were after. - Henry David Thoreau

[SpiderHerderParticipant 3791]

The Black Scorpion wrote:

Everything else is bought from a second hand store.
No doubt I have saved thousands over the years.

Yeah, I need to try that more often.

[Daryll55Participant 2958]

FrankOne wrote:

otherwise I’d see a lot more Red Wing shoe stores

Actually, that’s a poor choice of picking a company as example. REDWING doesn’t care too much about how many shoes they sell. Thyt just want the repeat business. And MAN , do they get it! If you have ever worn a pair of “REDWING’s” you’ll know why ppll keep coming back to them. Easily, the MOST COMFORTABLE work shoe I have ever worn. You can do 12hr days and not have foot fatigue at all with those shoes.
When it comes to quality or price, I need to gauge the importance of the product I am buying. You can buy almost anything on the cheap these days, but sacrifice quality you will.
Back to REDWING: They only use the softest leather in their shoes. I didn’t even need to break them in and I take a wide foot. Any other workshoe, I need at least 2 weeks of daily wear to break them in.

If I am buying a new TV,…. sure, quality matters. If I am buying a box of toothpicks; WTF do I care how or where they are made??

Marry again, Hell NO ! ( Even JESUS was hung on a cross just once)

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