Posted on 08/16/2015 9:53:41 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
I have not been to a mall since the 80’s.
I don’t know either, that’s why I’m asking.
That’s somewhat true, there’s always those types of people in any economic downturn, or upturn. A lot of that money is from people who are over 60-65. Most of it, anyways. Not many young people. Mostly families, or seniors.
Even young people don’t blow the money they have. Some do, but most if taking a vacation will go the cheapest possible for a weekend get away(a thousand bucks or so). Not many young people pay for long vacations, expensive vacations.
What I do find odd is that the most expensive vacations I sell go to foreign Middle Eastern, Latinos, and Russians / other eastern European citizens......the Latinos almost never are full citizens, and almost always have green cards. Lots of times 3 kids for the Middle Eastern and Latinos.
I even sold a vacation to a nice Israeli girl , her husband, and their 3 kids the other night, once to an Israeli ambassador working in DC a few weeks before Netanyahu spoke to congress about Iran.
I don’t want to shop where teenagers think it is a place to hang out.
You know the economy is bad when there is fierce competition and mergers in the dollar store industry.
Almost everything can be bought on Amazon.com.
Amazon or Ebay with highly rated sellers. The two places to comparison shop...
I, too, haven’t been to a mall in years...
The best one around here is downtown and it’s not good to go after dark on a Fri or Sat night even though there are nice restaurants.
I shop on-line, even for books (on Amazon, second-hand) and it’s delivered to my front door...I’d even welcome drone delivery if it means I don’t have to drive, find a parking place and deal with cretins...Boomer out.
We need nation composed of citizens, not one composed of “consumers”.
We have failing malls in New Hampshire, and it’s clear that they are failing because of youths.
The funny thing is, most of the youths must be from other states, since the youth population in NH is tiny.
That wasn’t a problem years ago. The kids would maybe buy something at a trendy teen oriented store, but most hung around the food court or went to the movies. Didn’t bother anyone. It was the in thing to go to the mall to see and be seen by your peers.
The ordinary teenagers have been replaced by gangs. They don’t go to the mall to shop or hang around the way kids used to; they go to fight, rob, shoplift, deal drugs and maybe shoot each other. And many aren’t teens. They’re adults.
I suspect there is some organized effort to destroy the malls because they are a symbol of white dominance, or something. I do know that most kids are no longer taught respect for others and their property.
LOL Right you are.
Um, whut ? Amazon kindly collects the almost 10% sales tax in my state, which sent my purchases from them to almost zero.
No taxes in my state. Amazon collects taxes in only 25 states.
And there can be “free” shipping.
“but the statistics cited here are highly misleading. “
I don’t think the statistics themselves are misleading, but zero hedge’s interpretation of them IS misleading, that is, as most here are pointing out, the causes of sinking sales are driven more by other factors than the economy, e.g., increased online shopping, and inconvenience, pricyness, and unsafeness of covered mall shopping.
Of course, St Vincent de Paul is profiting from all the halfway decent clothes I bought over the years for work, that put together is just a confused mish mash of stuff.
I’m with you. At this point, I shop almost exclusively online (and have for several years), excepting groceries, building materials, local hardware, and clothing (which I mostly buy at Costco).
I shop online because:
1. It’s convenient. I don’t have to drive around in traffic, find parking, go hunt down what I want, stand in line to pay, etc., etc., etc. Online purchases from amazon will typically arrive in two days WITH FREE SHIPPING (because I buy so much, it’s WAY worth it for me to pay for Amazon Prime).
2. Selection and quality are FAR, FAR better than brick and mortar stores. Most of what I buy online I would be unable to purchase locally anyway, or would have to spend hours driving and/or calling to find what I need. Example: yesterday I purchased a 4L600 FHP V-belt for my evaporative cooler when I noticed the current one seriously frayed when I was doing maintenance on the unit. (Another recent purchase was a Hardline digital inductive RPM meter with which I used to tune my Stihl chainsaw after I replaced the carburetor, which BTW, I bought on line for 40% of the cost of ordering one at the local Stihl dealership. Good luck in finding either the carb or the meter locally.)
And because the online selection is so broad, one can usually find better quality than local shopping.
3. Price. Online shopping prices for most items are SUBSTANTIALLY less than local retail (assuming you can even find what you want, which I almost never can). Plus, for my state, almost no online retailers collect sales tax, so there’s additional savings right there, AND helps to starve the beast.
As for older books or CDs/DVDs, they are OK with that stuff.
“Amazon or Ebay with highly rated sellers. The two places to comparison shop...”
newegg also has awesome feedback, though they can rarely match amazon’s prices, return policy or customer service.
provantage and newegg are still about the best places to buy PCs online, though.
I still buy tons of stuff on ebay, but less than in years past as many of the deals have dried up compared to amazon, plus I’m having more problems than in the past with liars and cheats, even when their seller feedback is excellent.
I have Amazon prime and when I need something,even like Hersheys chocolate, I can order it at similar price to the stores and not pay shipping and not drive to the store....if you do it right, Amazon can save you lots of time and money.
govt workers?....retired or “disabled”?....those segments of the population are doing fine...
So true. My Mom won’t go to the mall alone as she feels unsafe with all the gangs of teen yutes roaming around. I have to go with her.
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