Twelve Major Brands That Will Disappear

http://247wallst.com/2009/04/15/twelve-major-brands-that-will-disappear/ ^

[FromLori]

A number of well-known brands disappeared in the last year in large part due to economic forces. Many of them were in the retail industry, led by Circuit City. ATA and Aloha airlines are gone. Gateway Computers has effectively disappeared after being bought by Acer. It still has a website, but the brand is no longer marketed.

As the recession deepens and stretches out quarter after quarter, more companies will close or will shut divisions. More brands will disappear because their parents firms fold or can no longer afford to support them. Other brands will be obliterated by mergers.

24/7 Wall St. examined 100 large brands that are facing troubled futures. The analysis included records for those brands that are public companies or part of public companies. We considered sales information, information from industry experts, and brand histories. We also looked at the level of competition in each brand’s market and the extent to which that competition is growing. We examined the likelihood that a brand could be sold or spun off in cases where parent companies are in financial trouble.

We have compiled a list of 12 brands that will we believe will not survive until the end of next year. Each brand and the major reasons for its demise are listed along with some of the public information 24/7 Wall St. examined.

1. Avis/Budget (CAR) operates two car rental businesses. The primary competition

[GeronL]

swami says

[BlessedBeGod]

Wow. It’s like the whole world is coming to an end.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Border’s and Architectural Digest :-(

I read on another site that Macy’s, Dillard’s, Ann Taylor, Office Depot and Home Depot are in jeopardy.

[FromLori]

Holy cow even home depot??

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

yes, I was shocked.

[Yaelle]

I hope Crocs stays. Great cheap indestructible shoes that never smell. if you don’t like them for adults, they are still wonderful for children. Even the world over, they could provide cheap indestructible footwear for poor children.

[dr_lew]

Borders! Yikes! This is hitting home. I was just there tonight, but you know, you can see how the internet spoils you. You look at their DVD database for, oh, say DJANGO, and you see order ... order ... order. Why go to the store?

Thinking of "brand death" always reminds me of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, which featured the Bell System, Pan Am, Howard Johnson's ... not to mention nixie lamps!

In the night, and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people
march:
"Where to? what next?"

[Spktyr]

Reason: Their former CEO (now over at Chrysler) and Lowes. Between the two, HD is screwed.

[PetroniusMaximus]

“I was just there tonight, but you know, you can see how the internet spoils you.”

You can say that again. I went to B&N with my iPhone and used the Amazon mobile app to compare book prices. On four books I saved over $70 by going with Amazon over the B&N. I asked the manager to match the price. He said “nope” and I walked out $70 better off.

[GOP Poet]

Yes. It is crazy. Since I buy most of all my clothes at Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and J Crew, I am going to look like a vagabond in a year or so—LOL. Heck maybe I'll have to relearn to sew clothing. I always enjoyed Architectural Digest but purchased it intermittently. Looks as though I am not the only one.

[Jeff Chandler]

Home Depot? Estes Express will be hit hard if HD goes down.

[latina4dubya]

It’s like the whole world is coming to an end.

i'm sad about Banana Republic... :-(

[B-Chan]

I predict that within three years only one U.S.-flag international air carrier will exist. It will be owned by a consortium of the current airlines and the federal government, with Uncle Sam as majority shareholder. It will be our “national airline”, similar to Aeroflot, and will operate with heavy taxpayer subsidies.

[L.N. Smithee]

Borders! Yikes! This is hitting home. I was just there tonight, but you know, you can see how the internet spoils you. You look at their DVD database for, oh, say DJANGO, and you see order ... order ... order. Why go to the store?

As hard as it is to stomach the condescension of bookstore employees who are almost exclusively liberal, I enjoy browsing in bookstores. Stacey's, a large, beautiful independent bookstore in downtown San Francisco that I used to frequent on my lunch breaks, suddenly disappeared after 85 years. It was heartbreaking riding by on a bus for the first time in weeks and seeing the banners screaming that fixtures were for sale.

Borders is all there is left in San Francisco with easy parking (Barnes & Noble is at Fisherman's Wharf).

It still ticks me off the way libs demonize Wal-Mart, saying that it kills downtown businesses. There may be a kernel of truth in that, but Amazon.com is slowly murdering the entire retail book industry. Forget mom-and-pop stores, whole chains are going south. Any anti-corporate union-thug types boycotting it? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

[L.N. Smithee]

I hope Crocs stays. Great cheap indestructible shoes that never smell. if you don’t like them for adults, they are still wonderful for children. Even the world over, they could provide cheap indestructible footwear for poor children.

Meanwhile, even in this crappy economy, there are people who are spending $215 and up on butt-ugly sneakers only because they were designed by Kanye West.

[this_ol_patriot]

I will miss Borders and their classical and jazz cd selections, I built my collections on their stuff. They are the only ones that sold SACD's that I could find. I also liked their history and math/physics book sections, you could find lots of stuff you didn't know existed.

So what is the Amazon model, do they sell direct or are they a collection of small retailers doing business from who knows where like Ebay? I never bought from Ebay because I was always afraid to give my CC# to a place like that and also wasn't sure if I would get the real thing or some knockoff. Also don't relish waiting for something I bought and paid for to come in the mail.

[tet68]

It’s like the whole world is coming to an end.
i’m sad about Banana Republic
Oh it will survive but
the new CEO will be Barak Obama!

[L.N. Smithee]

I have bought from eBay a couple of dozen times over the years and have had absolutely zero problems that weren't resolved with a week. The only trouble was when an electronic item I won with a bid less than two dollars had a $80 shipping charge FOB from Hong Kong. I fought that and the seller backed down. No probs since then.

I wouldn't worry about eBay if I were you. It ain't Craigslist, with pervs, scammers, and killers just a click away.

[Getsmart64]

Borders! Yikes! This is hitting home. I was just there tonight, but you know, you can see how the internet spoils you.

/tinfoil hat on/......Just the governments way of controlling everything you do....only businesses that will be around will be internet based so all your goods will be controlled....what you can have and how much you can have will be controlled by people who know better than you.... /tinfoil hat off/