Enterprise is in my back yard, literally within a couple of miles, and I immediately thought of them and the impact on the local economy. As for other companies, I worked in J. C. Penney’s Catalog Department when I was in college. The store’s inventory was tiny compared to what you could order.
The comment about success being the cause of future delay in changing business plans is very important. Let’s look at Volkswagen. They were very successful with diesel, for lots of good reasons, but they blindly continued to ride that horse much longer than they should have. Like so many things in life, when you find yourself struggling to continue with an idea that is harder and harder to defend, it’s time to step way back and review the wisdom of the idea itself. Volkswagen almost broke itself permanently with diesel before it realized its mistake and jumped completely into an electric future. Hertz or Sears or even Macy’s has not yet made the jump. Target seems to have figured it out. Costco also is moving well. Will Amazon grab Costco in an hostile takeover? Maybe.
Meanwhile corporations and people are beginning to realize that time spent driving a car is time wasted for the most part. We’re going to see all sorts of solutions to this one before things reconstruct.
I agree… I think the market has a place for both hybrids and EVs for a long time to come. Considering both hybrids and EVs have both been around for 120 years, hard to say which one will win out. We know neither was the leader in the 20th century.
Hybrids may well be the solution for long haul vehicles that we need for the parts of the US where things are far apart. An efficient internal combustion engine can run a generator, and that together with solar panels that could cover the top of trailers and who knows what else (wind turbines?) might be a way to move things around. Pure electric will be the choice in cities and urban areas.
So let’s see . . .
A family friend had decided to become a social worker, because he literally loved helping people. It didn’t pay well . . . at all
So the fact he was poor was a moral failure on his part . . . ?!
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I believe Hertz could survive
But Sears . . . and maybe even Macy’s . . . are on the death bed, in my opinion
I don’t believe those 2 department stores can make any kind of jump, because they literally can’t get out of death’s bed
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Well, I wouldn’t draw that conclusion, and apparently you wouldn’t either, but… some… people do seem to delight in their claim that the poor are only poor because of their moral failures.
With Sears, they are only waiting to throw the last few shovelfuls of dirt on their grave. Macy’s has made some efforts in the online sales arena, but I doubt if those efforts are sufficient for them to survive with the same number of stores that they currently have, for very long. They even spent (wasted??) money on redecorating their stores a few months ago, but…
There is a mall about 20 miles from my house whose anchor stores were…
Sears, Lord & Taylor, JC Penney, and Macy’s.
The Sears store has been gone for a couple of years.
L&T is on its way out, and Penney’s is not in great shape, which may result in the closure of that store.
The Macy’s store in that mall was frequently deserted before the Pandemic hit.
I hope that I’m wrong, but I doubt if that mall will survive much longer, and that would kill a lot of smaller businesses that are also located in the mall.
Sad times…
Nail on head. Again no time to read all the responses first but yeah the type of person to start a business and see new opportunities is entirely different than the type of person to just manage it when established. So it’s the normal cycle of create go bust and create again from ashes. Then there are some that think they are really great innovators but are really just stupid and pull the drain plug on purpose. Detroit comes to mind. Pearls to swine also comes to mind.
I notice in all this talk of technological changes stressing old line companies, no one mentioned the classic tale of Kodak. The inventor of the digital image technology. Rejected it and continued their focus on film. Went through bankruptcy and is now a shell of their former self.
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There a mall near me that had three anchor stores: Sears, Hecht Co and Montgomery Ward. Wine wards went out of business, the store became a Modells sporting goods store. Hechts became Macy’s when One bought the other. Modells is gone, replaced by a Korean store. When Sears goes, I think they will be replaced. Sometimes there is demand for shopping that hasn’t been available before and the mall can stay open.
IMO, electrics will eventually supplant hybrids since they will be cheaper to manufacture and maintain. Batteries are expensive enough that having an auxiliary power system in board is an acceptable trade off. Actually, batteries are so expensive that currently they are the auxiliary power system. As the cost comes down and fast charging stations become much more prevalent, the cost of carrying an extra ICE power source will get pricy.
I had a conversation with one of the family members that owns the repair shop I use. He’s scared about how long they can remain in business when electric vehicles take over the market. He’s 30-ish, and I’m sure he wants another 30 years of work, plus the chance to sell it or turn it over to the next generation.
The whole concept of brick and mortar retail is on the way out. I haven’t found a need to step into a retail store other than the supermarket in about 3 years, and I live a normal, consumer driven, middle class life.
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A few years ago my wife and I were in a local mall, waiting for a movie to start IIRC, and we went up to the women’s department on the third floor of Dillard’s. Half the floor didn’t have lights on. Not encouraging.
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I can only partially agree with you
When it comes to certain things . . . like shoes . . . there is pretty much no substitute for actually trying something on and seeing it in person
And I want to see an appliance up close and personal . . . before I shell out money. A few days ago, I went to some appliance stores to check out a dishwasher. I’m not buying something expensive that’ll be around for several years, without seeing it first.
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+1–on all counts–to db4690’s comment.
Yes, there are certain items–perhaps even many items–that I willingly buy via the internet, but there are almost as many categories of goods for which up close and personal viewing/examination/trying-on is essential.
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That won’t be acceptable for long haul drivers with heavy loads. Recharging time will be hanging over a EV driver’s head until it is completely solved. And supercharging is not a solution, even with greater availability, yet. Even if the cost of the cars drops into the high 20’s and low 30’s, there still will be people that can not or will not buy an EV because of where they live or how they drive.
They will be fine for quite a while yet. They will have to learn new skills to work on them but these cars will need service. EV’s will still break things and need repair. An AAMCO or Midas shop owner is in serious trouble but most other shops will have a business repairing all the car parts that haven’t changed one bit with an EV. Sure, induction motors are simple, but everything else in the car is not. In fact some have become more complicated causing problems needing to be fixed.
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I dunno. In the last couple of months I’ve done more internet buying than I guess in the last couple of years. The problem is every time I order something, it is a week or more in transit and I would like it now. My last order from MTD in Cleveland took two weeks to finally get to me. The order before that from my favorite parts place took three weeks from MA. Even Briggs on-line in Columbus was a week though I did get one order in three days. So now I’m waiting for my high tech Meguire’s sealant and a new buffing pad from Auto Geek and should be here by Wed. but I’m ready today. I miss just going and picking something up but I’m not allowed to go to the big city yet and a lot of it is burned out now anyway. Then again I’m not going to order oil or paint or lumber on-line so it’s put the mask on and go to Menards.
I agree though, Sears could have simply modified their ordering system to computerize, expand their stupid lines to normal stuff beyond Kenmore like Amazon and the big boxes, and they’d a been a giant. Had a cousin start his business career at Sears after college. Took only a couple years back in the 70’s and saw then they were going no where. I do think spending afternoons in a mall though is passe’ but the survivors will mix both. Want that dress in a different size or color? It’ll be here tomorrow. Of course now Amazon is an aggregator of small businesses and also has some warehouses but they get by with slave wages and cheap transportation which is not going to last forever.
Yes Sears the former catalog order champion certainly missed the online sales bandwagon. I am still a go to the store guy, not much online ordering, except when sites give you a discount to order online and pick up in the store. I don’t get that.
+1
The operative term is “a week or more”.
I have been successful in having Amazon cancel orders and issue a refund for orders that took more than 4 weeks for delivery. I just wish that Amazon, Walmart.com, and other internet retailers didn’t allow very sketchy third party vendors to sell merchandise on their sites.
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The number of selections from Sears is overwhelming.
For example there are 743 refrigerator models listed for “Sears and market place”. “Sears only” has 354 refrigerators listed. Isn’t that enough?
What part of the ordering system is not computerized?
. I just wish that Amazon, Walmart.com, and other internet retailers didn’t allow very sketchy third party vendors to sell merchandise on their sites.
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10 4 On the third party vendor’s,
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