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GEOKARJO 
Google This!!!
Group: Members
Posts: 7799
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 26 2003,4:45 pm |
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On Christmas Eve I closed my store at 3 pm and reopened today Friday the 26th. I thought I would look at my books and compare sales to previous years. I realized I was $2400 dollars below last years sales at the eve of Christmas.
I thought I would compare sales to 2001 and found I was 3400 dollars under the that years sales at christmas eve.
I thought I would compare to 2000 I found I was 4400 dollars below that years.
I saw a trend and ask myself, why is it my sales went down and I increased my inventory by 30,000 dollars in new and different product.
I am in the Mall I thought about the craft shows I saw no benefit in my sales, all though it brings people into the mall. They can buy my stuff anytime but the crafts are only there a few times a years. I have to admit people get bargins buying crafts, think about the time and labor people put into making those things and as cheap as they sale them.
I thought about the other activities the Mall puts on.
Free turkey give away I sponsered with the advertiser it cost me around two hundred to give away a 20 dollar turkey.
I had over 200 enteries but after the drawing I decided to look at the entries and found that only 27 people actually entered the drawing some of them had as many as 20 entries in the drawing box. Wanna know where your shopper went in November? Your neighbors stole it.
Ok I thought about some of the other activities in the Mall and don't get me wrong I agree we need them there, but Senior Citizens mostly are on a fixed income and many of them can't afford their medications.
Beautiful baby contest, Young kids starting out No employment stability living from paycheck to paycheck.
Ok what is the mall doing to attract the 30 years old to 50 years old consumer.
I have no clue.
The shops in the Mall are failing to cater to 50 per cent of the consumer base.MEN
Shopko has turned into a womans store. I cannot buy a fuse for the house anywhere in this Mall let alone a quart of oil.
Shopkos sporting goods ROFL
In order for Northbridge Mall to survive and compete with Walmart they better get a Seals Sportings goods , a parts store, and maybe a western store.
My lease is up in Dec 2004 I have all ready gave my notice I do not intend to renew. I will be moving somewhere on the beaten trail to Wal-Mart
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Jeff
Unregistered
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Posted on: Dec. 26 2003,5:15 pm |
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GEOKARJO, that seems like a lot of lost sales. You are shooting yourself in the foot posting this. What do you think your stock is going to be worth by the time you have IPO? Are you going to be offering degrading stock still? At the rate you're going, it's probably going to be penny stock in another year.
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| Post Number: 3
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GEOKARJO
Google This!!!
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Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 26 2003,5:28 pm |
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As a corporation Family Fun Store is the store I am refering to Web Room Technologies has it's own set of books as does Family Fun.
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| Post Number: 4
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 26 2003,5:31 pm |
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Geo--some good observations about life in the malls vs. WM. It's true--there aren't many reasons for men to go to the mall--too bad that a place like ACE Hardware isn't located there--but then, the tool place didn't make it, either.
The mall, and the associated merchants, really do provide a service to the community with all they do for charitable groups. I agree, however, that the mall needs to broaden their exposure to other diverse groups. We would notice it in the museum field--museum gift shops would often be run by well-meaning little old ladies--offering cheap and cutesy items, far removed from what the museum was trying to portray--far removed from their core constituency.
Maybe the mall needs to do something with Bergdales Harley Davidson! 
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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| Post Number: 5
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GEOKARJO
Google This!!!
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Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 26 2003,5:47 pm |
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exactly Jim I think even if the Hy Vee Store and the Mall could work together and Sears and run ad campaigns reflecting superior knowledgable Service
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| Post Number: 6
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usmcr
Group: Members
Posts: 922
Joined: Sep. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 26 2003,9:37 pm |
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So soon we forget! Remeber the vibrant downtown before Wal-Mart? Remember the arrival of the Sky line Mall? Remember the grand entrance of Wal-Mart? Realize the effect of this gradual erroding of the mom & pop stores that were the soul & fiber of our city! Now we are faced with the monster Super Wal-Mart! How this will affect the remaining merchants in town, time will tell. I had the opportuinty to help with the purchase of a tv awhile back & don't you know it that it is hard to find a brand name tv in town! I for one do not know any sane person that will drive 50 miles to shop at our fair city. unless there is more diversity, choices if you will i feel we will loose more of what we now have. if auto parts stores were any measure of success we would rate fairly high! i am not trying to be naegative but rather realistic. i am sure there are other merchants that are starting to feel the pinch that the Super store is asserting. How does one compete with a monster store with it's enormus buying power for it's inventory? Love it or hate it, makes no difference it is here to stay!
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"Do not confuse dissent with disloyalty" Edward R Murrow
Memento homo quia pulvis es, et in pulverem veverteris
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| Post Number: 7
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Spidey
Group: Members
Posts: 1775
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 27 2003,1:11 am |
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I just don't get all the upset over Walmart "Super Center". Walmart has been here for many years along side the mom and pop operations without all of this talk about how it's taking away business.
Have you been to the new Walmart? I have. It's the same inventory .. just spread out. Actually I think the old Walmart was easier because you didn't have to travel so far (in store) to get what you came for. The +'s would have to be ample parking and everything looks clean. I now run to Shopko for this and that rather then have to make a big adventure out of shopping for soap and looking at clothes.
I believe if a mom and pop store offers something different at a fair price they will survive. If I walk into a small store and their prices are outragouse I usually never return. However, I've shopped at all of the stores in Northbridge Mall and find all of them to be acceptable and fun.
I guess the only shopping habits that have changed for me is I shop "less" at Walmart because it's too spread out, slow and inconvienient for me.
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| Post Number: 8
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irisheyes
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 3040
Joined: Oct. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 27 2003,10:05 am |
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I think we first started seeing the negative effects years ago when store after store started moving out of skyline. The biggest problem I see with Wal-Mart is that when people go to another store, they compare the prices to Wal-Mart, regardless of brand or quality. Sure Wal-Mart has the best in electronics (sorry geo, you might disagree with me on that), other than that its comparing apples to oranges when you compare it to furniture, jewelry, recreation, etc... with other specialty stores that we have.
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You know it's going to be a bad day when you cross thread the cap on the toothpaste.
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| Post Number: 9
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simple
Unregistered
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Posted on: Dec. 27 2003,10:30 am |
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geokarjo if you are serious about making a profit you have to get out of the mall. I do not know what the mall is charging per square foot right now but I am willing to bet that most of your profit margin is going right to the mall.
you also will have to start offering products at more affordable prices. I have been to your store and while some of the items you sell are nice and top of the line so are your prices. I think that you charge that much due to how much it costs having a store out in the mall so if you could get out of the mall perhaps you could better compete with other stores. remember it is not just local stores that you have to compete with you also have to compete with the internet just like every brick and mortar store these days.
just a note on this years sales. ALL retail is down this year it's not just you. many other companies have seen the same downward slope that you have shown us here.
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| Post Number: 10
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GEOKARJO
Google This!!!
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Posted on: Dec. 27 2003,10:31 am |
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Yes Wal-mart has the better electronics lets talk computer, thats why I have 5 Hewlett Packards setting on my repair bench waiting for the parts due to arrive within 10 days. But they are covered by warrenty and purchased at Wal-mart. I stock parts for my computer I sell, mine break down, a computer in and out in one day. Better electronics maybe coffee pots and blenders.
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