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

[L.N. Smithee]

I was surprised to see Palm on the list. I thought it was already dead and buried. Remember those ads and billboards with the naked woman that were controversial in the late nineties?

[pie_eater]

I’m screwed. I wear Crocs flip flops, buy my clothes at Gap, Banana Republic and Eddie Bauer, use a Palm phone, and one of my biggest customers is Home Depot. Maybe the market is trying to tell me something. Maybe overpriced rubber flip flops are silly. And maybe the Palm really does stink.

What’s killing Crocs is the imitation Crocs that everyone else has come out with. You can buy look-a-likes at Walmart for $5, so why buy genuine Crocs for $20? Unfortunately for Crocs they’ve won in the marketplace by creating demand for their product, but their high price and inability to stay ahead of copycats has doomed them. But they still make some great shoes.

[dr_lew]

You need a new tinfoil hat. Please report to the nearest government approved metallic headwear station for a replacement, or click on http://www.recovery.gov/

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Not to worry. The USA is becoming a Banana Republic.

[this_ol_patriot]

They can sure know what you read. For example if you order a pocket Constitution or Bible they can put you on the subversive list or perhaps send you The Communist Manifesto and Koran instead.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Their former CEO (now over at Chrysler)

That explains why Chrysler is on this article's list :-/

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I always went to the Barnes & Noble out in Colma. A bit of a drive, but less of a crush than the downtown bookstores.

That said, I hate SF bookstores. I once went to City Lights to get a book by Michael Savage. They had about 10,000 books with Bill Clinton on the cover all over the store, but after looking high and low, I could not find Savage’s book. I asked for help and they lead me to the back of the store where copies of his book were closed in shelves underneath display tables.

Good old San Francisco. Big purveyors of Free Speech they are. Not!

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Screwed? You are going to be able to stock up on all of their goods for pennies on the dollar at their bankruptcy sales. You can buy more or less a lifetime supply of crocs and gaps.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

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.

Macy's, Gottschalk's and Dillard's comprise most of the midscale department stores in CA. If they go under (Gottschalk's already has), much of CA outside of SF and LA will be without those resources. The high ends like Nordstroms stay in the big metro areas. On the other end we have Kohls, JC Penny's, Wal-Mart and Target. Mervyn's already went out of business. I guess I'll be limited to online purchases :-(

I always enjoyed Architectural Digest but purchased it intermittently. Looks as though I am not the only one.

No ;-) I also like Town and Country. I marvel at the fact money does not necessarily buy good taste, lol.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

What is Estes Express? Does it have to do with employing illegals?

[diamond6]

ping

[WhirlwindAttack]

BTTT

[dr_lew]

SNOWMANBEARPIG:

[Recovering_Democrat]

Here are my hopes for disappearing brands:

Think how great the world would be if people quit buying into the crap these businesses are selling.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Home Depot also has a big problem in the customer service department. It sucks. Of course, in South Florida customer service sucks nearly everywhere.

[OldMissileer]

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

I am going on about 400 purchases from EBay and have only been ripped off once.

I ordered a spare Sony battery & charger for my camera (the add and picture showed a real Sony battery) and received a bad Chinese knock off.

I only use PayPal and will never buy unless they use PayPal (go ahead and flame me but I have NEVER had a problem with them). PayPal gave me my money back and I turned the seller in to the FBI for selling fake crap.

Most EBay sellers understand that they MUST ship the items really fast and most of my purchases get to my door in less than a week. I had one item that was shipped to the wrong address and it took me three weeks to get it but other than that I have always been stunned at the rapid shipping of most EBay sellers.

I still buy locally if I weigh the benefits of going to a store and having a product on the same day, like when my autos die and I need parts NOW, but if I perceive the wait to be worth the discount I will buy from EBay. Just make sure to be a skeptic and look carefully at the seller ratings.

[wgflyer]

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

Around my neck of the woods, Home Depot caters very aggressively to the illegal alien driven construction industry. You practically have to speak spanish in there. I wouldn’t miss them.

[Rebelbase]

“6. Gap (GAP) Old Navy and Banana Republic. “

What will teenage girls/boys do?

[Rastus]

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?

Yes. In-print items are sold directly from Amazon, but you can also buy them (new and/or used) from marketplace dealers. It's sort of like eBay, with you having to trust in the feedback, but there is no bidding and you pay Amazon and they pay the sellers. Also, Amazon lists out-of-print items that are only available through the marketplace dealers. The marketplace side is more similar to eBay's half.com than the main auction site.

[Spktyr]

Well, there is a reason why HD is called the “do it yourself” store... because when you need to find something, you can’t find an employee so you must do it yourself. If you do find an employee, they invariably direct you to the other side of the store to the wrong department.