Now they're building a giant new headquarters and cities across the country are competing to be the location by offering them huge tax breaks.
Bezos, Amazon's head guy is the world's richest man worth about $100 billion.
And he's squeezing cities for billion dollar tax breaks.
Makes me puke.
Yeah, I know the project will mean 50,000 jobs and all that.
I'd rather have stores around to do my shopping.
Another example of millennials making the world worse, not better.
Quote: lilredroosterThey've put so many stores out of business and employees out of jobs. Malls are closing everywhere. Yeah, I know they offer offsetting benefits. But still I can't stand them.
Now they're building a giant new headquarters and cities across the country are competing to be the location by offering them huge tax breaks.
Bezos, Amazon's head guy is the world's richest man worth about $100 billion.
And he's squeezing cities for billion dollar tax breaks.
Makes me puke.
Yeah, I know the project will mean 50,000 jobs and all that.
I'd rather have stores around to do my shopping.
Another example of millennials making the world worse, not better.
Stores put themselves out of business. Amazon just put them out of their misery. Consider that Sears killed their catalog just a few short years before AMZN was founded. Had the kept it and had vision they would be AMZN. People love AMZN, so much choice.
Mall near where I grew up is about 90% empty. It is kind of a neat feeling now, visiting is like being in a zombie movie.
Not many arcades left. No drive-in theatres near me. Heck, I haven't had a home phone for 6 years.
Just go with the flow...
ZCore13
Quote: lilredroosterThey've put so many stores out of business and employees out of jobs. Malls are closing everywhere.
Don’t blame Amazon. They employ 542,000 people.
The retailers built too many stores, creating a bubble that is now bursting.
“Retail square footage per capita in the US is more than six times that of Europe and Japan.”
CNN Money
It’s all about meeting the needs of the consumer. The retailers failed to keep up.
In Manhattan, Amazon will deliver your order in one hour for a small fee, and within two hours for free delivery. Wired
Then, there's the Treasure Truck where they sell items on the street for less than half price.
Quote: Tanko
Then, there's the Treasure Truck where they sell items on the street for less than half price.
I see this, the Whole Foods buyout, and the rumored buyout of Target and wonder. Clearly AMZN is a retailer and not a "tech company." Not anymore, if it ever was one. But maybe the thing was never the "clicks not bricks" but just the new guy on the block selling shinier things wrapped nicer than the guy down the street?
AMZN is in a way just Sears of 120 years ago. Sell tons of stuff from a central location because the local guy cannot hope to have that variety.
Quote: AZDuffmanI see this, the Whole Foods buyout, and the rumored buyout of Target and wonder. Clearly AMZN is a retailer and not a "tech company." Not anymore, if it ever was one. But maybe the thing was never the "clicks not bricks" but just the new guy on the block selling shinier things wrapped nicer than the guy down the street?
I'm fairly certain that Amazon makes far more money (net, not gross) on AWS than their retail division, which is pretty solidly in the "tech company" field, though they are selling a service...
Quote: Tanko“Retail square footage per capita in the US is more than six times that of Europe and Japan.”
Kind of loaded there; population distribution and property values are way different. Also, a bit of personal preference, but I really hate those Asian micro-malls. They feel ridiculously cramped, but that's a practical result of their basic concept.
Quote: lilredroosterThey've put so many stores out of business and employees out of jobs. Malls are closing everywhere. Yeah, I know they offer offsetting benefits. But still I can't stand them.
Now they're building a giant new headquarters and cities across the country are competing to be the location by offering them huge tax breaks.
Bezos, Amazon's head guy is the world's richest man worth about $100 billion.
And he's squeezing cities for billion dollar tax breaks.
Makes me puke.
Yeah, I know the project will mean 50,000 jobs and all that.
I'd rather have stores around to do my shopping.
Another example of millennials making the world worse, not better.
Enjoy your next Amazon purchase.
The impediments have been 'anchor clauses' in leases. There were hopes to revitalize malls such as server farms but nothing came of it.
In the fifties and sixties cities were luring companies with tax holidays and zoning changes but Fort Collins adopted the posture of no tax breaks and constant emphasis on parks and infrastructure as employers moved to Fort Collins for lifestyle issues and other cities were too broke to do the parks, schools, roads, etc. to maintain a quality of life.
There are decreasing mall 'hangouts', increasing mall guards chasing away the young and the minorities. Shopping while black is becoming more frequent and malls tell guards to keep political slogan wearers out, so no longer can you wear your 'Stop Plate Tectonics' tee shirt to the mall.
Sears? All those storage places that sprang up in suburbia were largely tenanted by Sears with endless shuffling of its physical inventory. It was a very inefficient company.
Now we have delivery vehicle traffic jams and we have drone delivery conflicts.
Quote: FleaStiffWhen online commerce was just beginning it was the mall owners who were initially worried. Many people saw the writing on the wall fearing about the tax base of communities when malls became obsolete.
In the very late 1990s there was a story of one mall that banned any store from showing their website. As if it would make a difference. The strong malls will survive, but the days of going to the mall for no real reason are pretty much behind us.
On the "slogans" thing I remember having an argument with a guy about a mall near him making the news for booting a guy with an anti-war (Iraq) T-Shirt. He cried "FREE SPEECH." I tried to explain that it does not apply on private property to him.
Quote: AZDuffmanIn the very late 1990s there was a story of one mall that banned any store from showing their website. As if it would make a difference. The strong malls will survive, but the days of going to the mall for no real reason are pretty much behind us.
On the "slogans" thing I remember having an argument with a guy about a mall near him making the news for booting a guy with an anti-war (Iraq) T-Shirt. He cried "FREE SPEECH." I tried to explain that it does not apply on private property to him.
I'd love to been around for that. AZD explains the Constitution.
Quote: billryanI'd love to been around for that. AZD explains the Constitution.
Quite simple. Constitution applies to government. Freedom of speech does not apply on private property. Nor does it mean an artist has a beef when Time-Warner's music division says they will not release their song as written.
For example my sister VW car radio died ..... stealership wanted around $700 plus taxes (13%)to replace it with a repaired radio
she drove without a radio for a year until I final convinced her to buy this radio off Amazon to replace hers ...oh this radio also has the GPS on it and a backup camera .... has many more options over the VW radio but looks exactly the same.... and yes her steering wheel controls for it work great with this radio
Was $149 US or about $190 Canadian at the time it was purchased.... $600 savings after I installed it for her
the only complaint .....why didnt I convince her earlier
https://www.amazon.com/HIZPO-Player-Window-Volkswagen-Navigation/dp/B018KE2PRI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1517933590&sr=8-4&keywords=2011+vw+jetta+radio&dpID=51DbO53M7rL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Quote: AZDuffmanQuite simple. Constitution applies to government. Freedom of speech does not apply on private property. Nor does it mean an artist has a beef when Time-Warner's music division says they will not release their song as written.
This is actually state-specific. CA, CO, WA, PA, and others have applied the free speech protections in their state constitutions to private property where the public is expected to gather (so, malls).
Quote: djatcspeaking of Amazon, when is Sears going to close? Place hasn't been relevant since I used to sample their SNES games in the video games section
One of them near me closed a few months ago.
Quote: djatcspeaking of Amazon, when is Sears going to close? Place hasn't been relevant since I used to sample their SNES games in the video games section
The Canadian stores are all closed now
https://www.sears.ca/
they left town with a shortage of I think $270 Million in the workers pension benefits plans
all retired workers lost all benefits and expect pension to drop 20-25%
meanwhile while this was happening they wanted around $15 million to RETAIN the top folks during this event.... the guys that helped get them into this shape
Quote: rdw4potusThis is actually state-specific. CA, CO, WA, PA, and others have applied the free speech protections in their state constitutions to private property where the public is expected to gather (so, malls).
Further, places of public accommodation (i.e. stores and restaurants), even if they are private property, cannot just refuse service to someone they don't like. Booting someone from a retail store for non-disruptive or vulgar political speech is probably bordering on legality (depending on the state). In any case, it would be completely petty and stupid for a business owner to do so.
Just because it's not the same as when you grew up doesn't mean it's worse. It also doesn't have crap to do with "millennials" which is also a fairly made up term:Quote: lilredrooster...Another example of millennials making the world worse, not better.
Others have already commented on a few things, such as job numbers, etc, but I think the most important one was by Zcore13... The world changes, and EVERY generation "hates" it because people don't like change. While it seems much easier to hate on change, it's actually much easier, efficient, and profitable (either by making money or saving money) to keep up with the times. Just because something isn't the way you remember it doesn't make it worse, less efficient, less paying back to people, etc, etc, etc.
For the record, I'm an 80's child, not a millennial... apparently they were born just after me. At least I got to enjoy the 90's =D.
Sure thing boss:Quote: FaceSomeone find me a joke book so I can legally bump this thread every day for the next four and a half years.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2/143-8901441-7738453?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=joke+book
Quote: djatcspeaking of Amazon, when is Sears going to close? Place hasn't been relevant since I used to sample their SNES games in the video games section
It might survive as a shell of its former self. Go back 10 years and it probably could have been saved if it focused on its private labels, which even today are popular, and ditched the national brands.
Quote: Romes
Sure thing boss:
Member Romes is suspended, nuclear option, without appeal, and all posts expunged from the forum.
The f#$%ing URL was right there...
#Welvin
Quote: AZDuffmanIt might survive as a shell of its former self. Go back 10 years and it probably could have been saved if it focused on its private labels, which even today are popular, and ditched the national brands.
That does seem to be the future of the brand. They closed the stores in SC where I lived. Then, under what I think is a franchise model, they opened ~5,000 sqft storefronts in a couple stripmalls that just handle Kenmore, lawn/garden machines, and tools. It was like going to a hardware store, but + appliances and - actual hardware.
Quote: FaceMember Romes is suspended, nuclear option, without appeal, and all posts expunged from the forum.
The f#$%ing URL was right there...
#Welvin
does that mean permanent ban?
Quote: gamerfreakFurther, places of public accommodation (i.e. stores and restaurants), even if they are private property, cannot just refuse service to someone they don't like.
Casinos in most states seem to be able to do it for just that reason all the time.
Quote: onenickelmiracleAmazon is convenient, if you want to buy anything, you can get it fast and easy without going anywhere. Amazon sells things, but without supporting the places they sell to, so that is a negative and also their advantage. I'd say people shouldn't hate Amazon, but hate their advantage, which comes down to taxes and expenses.
People don't seem to realize that Amazon ,in many cases, sells items for local vendors. Last summer, I sold about $3,000 worth of books and team sweatshirts I bought at a closeout. I offered the shirts to a local Dicks, and the managers told me they had no leeway towards buying products. Everything went thru Corporate.
Bottom line is many local small businesses sell on Amazon, as well as use it to reduce their expenses. It's also opened the doors to many people looking to avoid etsy and ebay for selling their items.
Are you being a little ban tease?Quote: FaceMember Romes is suspended, nuclear option, without appeal, and all posts expunged from the forum.
The f#$%ing URL was right there...
#Welvin
Quote: billryanQuote: FaceMember Romes is suspended, nuclear option, without appeal, and all posts expunged from the forum.
The f#$%ing URL was right there...
#Welvin
does that mean permanent ban?
"Nuclear option" does, yes. But I was just venting in jest due to the embarrassment of being had so easily. Romes' official status is A-OK.
Quote: TigerWuI don't understand how people buy clothes and shoes online. How do you know if it will fit or not?!?!?
You don't know your size??
ZCore13
Quote: rdw4potusThat does seem to be the future of the brand. They closed the stores in SC where I lived. Then, under what I think is a franchise model, they opened ~5,000 sqft storefronts in a couple stripmalls that just handle Kenmore, lawn/garden machines, and tools. It was like going to a hardware store, but + appliances and - actual hardware.
5,000 seems small, but here is what could have happened. Get rid of all the major brands. This is what Sears was years ago, pre-1990 it carried few outside brands. Women go crazy for clothing lines, Sears had a few they liked. Men liked Craftsman. Men would buy the basics in clothes there but more for work type and more rugged stuff. For clothes men would care little about branding.
Hard to say when it could have still worked. I think it might still be part of the idea.
Quote: TigerWuI don't understand how people buy clothes and shoes online. How do you know if it will fit or not?!?!?
Oh, dude, doncha know? You just put it back in the box with a label they've already sent with the original package and just have the mailman take it right back! And you can do this pretty much always, any time, for whatsoever reason you want. A slight charge, mayhap, what for the shipping and all, but $2 to save all the gas and time of shopping to have it brought to your home?!. Dude. Get woke. This is the new world.
lilred finds disgust in tax breaks. All the while the USPS bows to their every whim, dropping all Priority and first class priority in favor of the almighty smiling box. Substitute carriers run ragged for 20-30+ days in a row in violation of contract and some state's labor laws at a wage some 15-20% lower than it was ten years ago, just to deliver packages for a hundred billionaire AT A DISCOUNT.
But seriously. Get dressed, drive into town, navigate the mall, complete a purchase, go home. Or, spend $2, crack one, hop on Civ V, and have your shoes or whatever at your door about the time Ghandi starts nuking everyone. Shoes. Shorts. Shirts. Slacks. Crocs. Canes. Carhardt. 3pt track lighting. A 120lb queen size memory foam mattress. Fuel pump for a JDMD15B VTEC. A Billy Mays approved Weed Aug™. 70 f#$%ing pounds of dog food. 6gal case of water. 500 common crickets, live. 500 common crickets, dry. A velvet Elvis. Just about any single material good you can think of. Just click. It comes right to your couch.
First month of Prime is free. Then something something one hundred billion dollars.
All hail your new King.
"I will not be blackmailed by some ineffectual, privileged, effete, soft-penis debutante. You wanna start a street fight with me, bring it on, but you're gonna be surprised by how ugly it gets. You don't even know my real name. I'm the f@#$ing Lizard King." - Jeff Bezos, probably
One firm sends a whole box of new clothes to you "on spec". Most people keep them, some return a portion of them. Commerce is easy when there are no bricks, no mortar, just people raking in money hand over fist.Quote: TigerWuI don't understand how people buy clothes and shoes online. How do you know if it will fit or not?!?!?
Some women's fashion is even marketed with virtual fitting rooms and cameras or laser measuring devices.
(1) It is very convenient for sending gifts to friends.
Remembers all their addresses. One-click shopping.
One of my 50-something friends liked Amazon because of this in the 2000s.
(2) Return policy is incredible.
I've heard amazing stories. Lost package -> No question refund.
Seller on Amazon won't do refunds -> Ok. Amazon itself does the refund.
-----
Amazon is winning on high-quality service.
I tried to buy a TV show on Apple...and it was a mess. So I bought it on Amazon - much easier.
Quote: djatcwhen is Sears going to close?
The Sears store at the Biloxi-Gulfport mall closed last Spring. The Sears automobile service center remained open when I was there last August.
Quote: Face
First month of Prime is free. Then something something one hundred billion dollars.
All hail your new King.
Thank You. I won't bow down to this asshole. F!!# his Alexa. F!!# his Prime, F!!# his Treasure Truck, F!!# his spaceship, F!!# his drones. F!!# his dream for a new world that I don't want. And lastly, F!!# him too.
Quote: lilredroosterThank You. I won't bow down to this asshole. F!!# his Alexa. F!!# his Prime, F!!# his Treasure Truck, F!!# his spaceship, F!!# his drones. F!!# his dream for a new world that I don't want. And lastly, F!!# him too.
Lilred,
You can't possibly think this multi-fbomb is acceptable. 3 days for non pg profanity. Edited to mask.
With all apologies and thanks to Face and his brethren who schlep them from the warehouse to my door, I buy my shoes form Amazon. I know the brand (New Balance), style, and size of the shoe I buy. When the pair I have starts to wear out, I will buy more.Quote: TigerWuI don't understand how people buy clothes and shoes online. How do you know if it will fit or not?!?!?
I used to go from store to store trying to find them. There is even a New Balance store near my house. They don't carry the shoe I want. They don't know when/if they will get any. They told me to try a sporting goods store. Enough was enough. I could get exactly what I wanted from Amazon without having to drive all over town.
You'd like that, wouldn't you Axel... Sorry my name has never been in red. It probably won't ever be, unless one day I just haul off in the political thread and just start massively insulting everyone. I'd give that about a 3-1 underdog to happen, so we'll see.Quote: AxelWolfAre you being a little ban tease?Quote: FaceMember Romes is suspended, nuclear option, without appeal, and all posts expunged from the forum.
The f#$%ing URL was right there...
#Welvin
lol Face, I thought when you said "someone find me a joke book" that you were yourself trolling, giving that the THREAD IS ABOUT AMAZON. =D You soft tossed it a bit too easy, had to take a swing (even if I thought you were already making a joke) =p.
Quote: JoemanI buy my shoes form Amazon. I know the brand (New Balance), style, and size of the shoe I buy. When the pair I have starts to wear out, I will buy more.
I buy my shoes from Zappos
Supporting downtown Las Vegas :-)
I probably use ebay more then Amazon for minor purchases.
If you buy from Amazon you probably have to deal with three or four emails about it. if you buy from ebay the emails never stop.Quote: terapinedI probably use ebay more then Amazon for minor purchases.
Even for minor stuff, ebay seems to have "new" packaging for discontinued or refurbished products.
My latest ebay purchase was thirty dollars and three or four weeks delivery versus Amazon's fifty dollars and two day delivery. I don't mind waiting. I don't particularly like to wait, but for twenty dollars in savings, I'll wait.
Sure do hate all those emails from ebay though. Annoying.
Also ebay has these 'fake' we have shipped some item click here to cancel .... and that link actually authorized a paypal transaction.
Any way ebay will no longer be using paypal within a year or so, a Dutch Aiden firm is replacing paypal.
Quote: beachbumbabsLilred,
You can't possibly think this multi-fbomb is acceptable. 3 days for non pg profanity. Edited to mask.
AMNESTY! AMNESTY! AMNES... oh. Same team. Sorry ;)
But to continue in his vein, like,.... not only can I not, but I flat out refuse to understand. You folks with Alexa, just WHY? You would allow all access to all of your doings to multitudes of strangers just so you don't have to push a f#$%ing button to turn on the radio? And who, WHO OF YOU are giving Amazon your key codes to allow deliveries into your house? That's how the dodo went away, you know. Too dull to sense the danger. How did you people make it this far?
If anyone wants to break out the over-unders and bag some drones, call me. I'm in.
Anyway, @Joeman, I do not accept the apology because none is warranted. If you have the same admiration of the USPS as does Babs and co., then parcels are becoming, if not already, our life's blood. My already s#$% pay would have to be quite a bit less than it is without them, and really, without the Constitutional mandate, we'd likely have folded long ago. Parcels made us viable again. And real talk, I'm into some quirky scenes that make the 5 and dime a no go. Just about every part of my of my first race car came via post, as it was cheaper than 3 months of Intro to Japanese and a flight to Okinawa. I get it, and although my anger is mostly very real and much more intense than seen even here, my reality understands and at least tries to accept it =p
BUT... there's so many things about it that I cannot understand and/or have difficulty accepting. I haven't quite sorted it in my head to allow a decent post so I'll wait, but it's.... it's a big deal. Bigger than the loss of retail outlets, for sure, and has nothing to do with my personal feelings of embracing Ludditism. There's a very real danger here, one I don't think anyone's really thinking about.
And @Romes, what can I say? I wish I could say I was being slick, hur-hur asking to find something in a thread about the service that can find anything. Sad to say that's just what happens when rage mode engages. Pure tunnel vision. I clicked that with no other thought than "Hey, here comes a list of easily copied jokes I can just run down on". Little did I know there was a spring loaded punching bag inside. I cussed out loud, called you three different slurs you got me that bad. Never saw it coming.
Quote: terapinedI buy my shoes from Zappos
Supporting downtown Las Vegas :-)
I probably use ebay more then Amazon for minor purchases.
Zappos IS owned by Amazon!
Quote: FaceAMNESTY! AMNESTY! AMNES... oh. Same team. Sorry ;)
But to continue in his vein, like,.... not only can I not, but I flat out refuse to understand. You folks with Alexa, just WHY? You would allow all access to all of your doings to multitudes of strangers just so you don't have to push a f#$%ing button to turn on the radio? And who, WHO OF YOU are giving Amazon your key codes to allow deliveries into your house? That's how the dodo went away, you know. Too dull to sense the danger. How did you people make it this far?
If anyone wants to break out the over-unders and bag some drones, call me. I'm in.
Anyway, @Joeman, I do not accept the apology because none is warranted. If you have the same admiration of the USPS as does Babs and co., then parcels are becoming, if not already, our life's blood. My already s#$% pay would have to be quite a bit less than it is without them, and really, without the Constitutional mandate, we'd likely have folded long ago. Parcels made us viable again. And real talk, I'm into some quirky scenes that make the 5 and dime a no go. Just about every part of my of my first race car came via post, as it was cheaper than 3 months of Intro to Japanese and a flight to Okinawa. I get it, and although my anger is mostly very real and much more intense than seen even here, my reality understands and at least tries to accept it =p
BUT... there's so many things about it that I cannot understand and/or have difficulty accepting. I haven't quite sorted it in my head to allow a decent post so I'll wait, but it's.... it's a big deal. Bigger than the loss of retail outlets, for sure, and has nothing to do with my personal feelings of embracing Ludditism. There's a very real danger here, one I don't think anyone's really thinking about.
And @Romes, what can I say? I wish I could say I was being slick, hur-hur asking to find something in a thread about the service that can find anything. Sad to say that's just what happens when rage mode engages. Pure tunnel vision. I clicked that with no other thought than "Hey, here comes a list of easily copied jokes I can just run down on". Little did I know there was a spring loaded punching bag inside. I cussed out loud, called you three different slurs you got me that bad. Never saw it coming.
I do not understand having Alexa, Cortana, Siri, Echo, any other digital assistant in my home, my car, or my business. Every one of these things can so easily be contraverted into working against you. The GPS chip State Farm wants mounted in my car can also tell them where I'm driving, how fast, whether I just left a bar, etc etc. I turned it down for their 5 or 10% discount, I forget which.
You talk to Alexa or whatever, it's caching your interests, your movies, TV shows, books. It's always listening. I call BS on you having to address one of those things to wake it up.
Gonna cut my rant short and just say that, the more I'm tracked on social media or smart devices, the further off the grid I'm going. If I become a quadraplegic , maybe I'll reconsider. Short of that , I'll do it myself. Bad enough they track my Google searches and pitch ads to me.