Quote: @muydnbejydk said:
@ Vikergirl said:
It was inevitable. Retail is dying. I feel for the employees.
In 2017 Sears employed 140,000 people. From CNN Money- " Amazon has added nearly a quarter million employees to its headcount in a single year.Oct 26, 2017" A total of 541,900.
The jobs aren't dying, just changing.
Changing drastically from a face-to-face service interaction like at a Sears/Kmart/department store to warehouse fulfillment job behind the scenes. Pretty drastic change for folks who may have been working at department store type jobs to have to transition into basically warehouse jobs. Glad it is not me that is for sure. I know I would have a hard time adjusting to that.
But I have been in face-to-face sales my whole life so could not imagine working in a giant warehouse with only coworker interaction and no customer interaction.
I hope those 170,000 Sears employees can find jobs somewhat similar too the department store set-up because they are all dying. I think most will have to go pure retail like Walmart/Target etc.
Quote: @minny65 said:
@ muydnbejydk said:
@ Vikergirl said:
It was inevitable. Retail is dying. I feel for the employees.
In 2017 Sears employed 140,000 people. From CNN Money- " Amazon has added nearly a quarter million employees to its headcount in a single year.Oct 26, 2017" A total of 541,900.
The jobs aren't dying, just changing.
Changing drastically from a face-to-face service interaction like at a Sears/Kmart/department store to warehouse fulfillment job behind the scenes. Pretty drastic change for folks who may have been working at department store type jobs to have to transition into basically warehouse jobs. Glad it is not me that is for sure. I know I would have a hard time adjusting to that.
But I have been in face-to-face sales my whole life so could not imagine working in a giant warehouse with only coworker interaction and no customer interaction.
I hope those 170,000 Sears employees can find jobs somewhat similar too the department store set-up because they are all dying. I think most will have to go pure retail like Walmart/Target etc.
They are drastically different jobs, and probably not a lateral move. I was just trying to point out that just because one sector is shrinking doesn't necessarily mean there are less jobs to be had. Like the old example of buggy whip makers having to make steering wheels instead.
Ours closed about 6 months ago. I will miss the nostalgia of the store. End of era.
Yes people will lose jobs. Not just part time or seasonal. Office workers, accountants, credit people, ect. ToyRus was another I miss. It's not the same for kids to look at a web page order it then wait. They like going there, see and hold it. Then hopefully taking it home. Kinda like I was at the Sears tool department.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
Montgomery Wards went about 20 years ago, now Sears. How long before JC Penny goes....
Actually, I'd say maybe Home Depot had as big an impact on Sears' demise as Amazon. In the 70s if you wanted tools, a Shopvac, etc., you went to Sears. Then it became Home Depot and Lowes.
I sorta wonder if Amazon is now going to hurt those stores. Come to think of it, the last several purchases of that type I made (air compressor, patio table, etc) were made online. I even started buying clothes online. You can find EXACTLY what you want, find the cheapest price and typically have it on your door step in 36 hours.
I visited my dad all week in Minnesota and he can't understand the point of Amazon. He's in a suburb outside of Minneapolis. Everything is within driving distance. There's no need for it a lot of places.
Where I live, if I didn't have it I'd probably waste 6-8 hours a week in my car. I didn't just pull those numbers out of my ass either, I thought about travel times, how much I need x, y, z, etc.
Sears failed because of mismanagement-financial and business. When you get bought out by a nearly bankrupt KMart before Amazon became the juggernaut it is you fkd up.
They had brands that were invaluable like Kenmore and Craftsman and served certain market segments very well(house and home primarily, but they insisted on trying to sell low end clothing, jewelry, and home decor and stick with that antiquated model waaaay too long.
They sold the most valuable asset to try to keep a terrible model alive when they sold Craftsman to Stanley. Once they did that there was no coming back IMO.
Quote: @KingBash said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Montgomery Wards went about 20 years ago, now Sears. How long before JC Penny goes....
Actually, I'd say maybe Home Depot had as big an impact on Sears' demise as Amazon. In the 70s if you wanted tools, a Shopvac, etc., you went to Sears. Then it became Home Depot and Lowes.
I sorta wonder if Amazon is now going to hurt those stores. Come to think of it, the last several purchases of that type I made (air compressor, patio table, etc) were made online. I even started buying clothes online. You can find EXACTLY what you want, find the cheapest price and typically have it on your door step in 36 hours.
I visited my dad all week in Minnesota and he can't understand the point of Amazon. He's in a suburb outside of Minneapolis. Everything is within driving distance. There's no need for it a lot of places.
Where I live, if I didn't have it I'd probably waste 6-8 hours a week in my car. I didn't just pull those numbers out of my ass either, I thought about travel times, how much I need x, y, z, etc.
Its about convenience, not if everything is in driving distance. Amazon Prime gets you everything same day or next day. That's what people want and you can shop online and see all the details of the item and the reviews which are huge. Amazon is successful because they are customer focused and driven unlike almost any other retailer. People will order from Amazon if they had a store on the same block. That's the new innovation: convenience. People want things delivered to their front door; goods, food, medicine etc,
I even get my dress shirts, slacks etc from on-line now...Saves me quite a bit of time. Food? Not quite there yet on perishables, but I suspect thats coming for us @ some point - especially since Amazon bought Whole Foods and Target and Grocery will be getting better @ delivery over time.
Quote: @NodakViking said:
Sears failed because of mismanagement-financial and business. When you get bought out by a nearly bankrupt KMart before Amazon became the juggernaut it is you fkd up.
They had brands that were invaluable like Kenmore and Craftsman and served certain market segments very well(house and home primarily, but they insisted on trying to sell low end clothing, jewelry, and home decor and stick with that antiquated model waaaay too long.
They sold the most valuable asset to try to keep a terrible model alive when they sold Craftsman to Stanley. Once they did that there was no coming back IMO.
Yeah I remember when the bought them. My question was why? I thought they would regret it. Almost for the start it was a bad acquisition for them.
Edit: them being Kmart.
I have groceries delivered to my mom when she is sick or can't get to the store. It definitely is worth it.
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