Monday, January 8, 2018

Business News

I noted last week how I love to shop on New Year's morning.  Let me expand on that.

Going out on New Year's Eve never appealed to me.  One of my old radio bosses referred to it as "amateur night."  I've worked more than my share of overnighters on New Year's Eve, and it's no big deal to me.  It comes along with the territory and I never felt as if I was missing out on anything.

That was the case again this year.  My shift at the TV station ended at 6 am, so my morning was free.

New Year's morning shopping has a lot of appeal.  First, the stores are empty.  Secondly, there are big sales, especially the winter items.  In Scranton, PA, if you buy a winter coat on January 1st, you can probably wear it for the next six months.

Here is where things go off the track. 

I ventured out just before 9 am.  First stop was a big box store, the trendy one with the red and white logo.  The store was clean and well organized.  There were plenty of things to look at, including clothes and electronics.  Nothing really appealed to me and I left.  No big deal.

Next stop was another big box, one that specializes in clothing.  It was a mess.  Disorganized.  Sizes all over the place.  No rhyme or reason to displays.  It did nothing to make shopping easy.

After that, I headed over to a mall.  Same story.  Disorganization with nothing to enhance the shopping experience.

I'm so tired of hearing retailers whine about people spending money via the internet.  Your stores are sloppy.  You are practically begging me to go on-line.

Look what happened to Sears and KMart.  The company didn't invest in improving its stores and now they are teetering on the edge of going out of business.

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."