When you go on the internet, you don't have to inconvenience yourself by shopping for what you want. Instead, you search something in a box and it pops up in front of you. You don't have to drive to get it. You don't have to bring it back. Let a giant truck come to your door instead with the internet.

I'm not saying it's a good transition - I'm not saying it's bad; personally, I have no opinion either way - but it is definitely true that employee knowledge of both their "specialty" and their customer service skills have gone way down and that the cost of running a website versus a store is quite a bit cheaper for retailers like Eastbay and Nike, just to name a few, than to get stores to sell their product.

Internet sales, in terms of business, makes sense anymore. So yeah, a lot of retailers have given up. That's what corporations do to small businesses anymore.

I'm beyond frustrated with book stores. There used to be 2 main chains around, Barnes and Nobles and Borders. Then Borders went out of business and Barnes and Nobles stopped getting most new books. I hate using ereaders, I'd much rather have a book in my hands, but it's getting nearly impossible to find new releases. The only place to get them is online.

Barnes and Noble is a devil… they get the books directly, selling them by the masses, and selling the books that they can't sell to mom and pop stores that get crushed underneath their squidlike tentacles… is that a good enough analogy?

So what's the problem. You hero Obama told Romney the world has changed in super-smug fashion last debate. Remember, he claimed armies don't use bayonettes or horses any more....and the liberal press cheered the death of industry....of course he was 100 percent wrong....but my question is why do we celebrate thesaurus of some industry and morn the loss of others. I love my e-reader and on-line book buying and only sort-of miss book stores....it's a good trade off. If I trusted on-line clothes shopping I would cheer loudly!

I'm not talking about small vs. big business. Most of the stores that I still visit are actually very small and doing well. Its the big chains: Sears, JC Penney's, Radio Shack, Barnes and Noble that have gone to shit.

I was particularly upset with B&N. They had none of the books I wanted because 1/4 of their store was consumed by a Nook kiosk.

Books? What are these things? Are they new? What function do they serve? My 1144 foot plasma TV with digital cable/satellite/FIOS doesn't have a book channel. They can't be that important.

No-sox....give me a break. B&Minutes a market to Sellers. And GASP THEY MAKE A PROFIT for their service. So what.

Do YOU work for free?

What are you talking about, krellin? My question is why are these giant chain stores so incompetent?

For reasons stated above, I don't go there, so I really don't know how they are doing in terms of product.

The only thing I mostly do my own shopping for is clothes or gear, most of which I do online. I sometimes go to a Kohl's or whatever but most of my clothing choices are made up of jerseys, plain tees, souvenir shirts, or my own sports team shirts plus jeans or basketball shorts. I'd buy the tees online and it is definitely easier than going somewhere for it.

Barnes and Noble is not the Cause of e-readers.....why do you fools blame them for marketing to....let's be clear here....KIDS (you) that TEXT more than you talk on your phones, who have earners constantly inyour wars, etc. It's hilarious to hear children complain about the technology they cause society to embrace!

Krellin, seriously, dude, who are you even yelling at?

I go both ways (internet for things I don't feel I need right away and brick and mortar for the more urgent or just need to satiate a desire items). But the best solution is the hybrid one. Order online at sears for in store pickup. Of course Cincinnati is big enough to have numerous stores of any major name so I find the closest to my house or work that has it in stock. One quick online order and one trip to where I know it is waiting for me.

Angel - how are they incompetent? B n N exists, sells readers and makes a profit. THAT IS THEIR PURPOSE - to make a profit.Their purpose is NOT to supply you with physical books. There's how they USED to make profit. my wife, kid and me all own nooks....BnN makes money off the new business model off my family, and we read more than ever. You are simply WRONG.

Angel....not yelling. Get the duck over yourself. Disagreement with Loth Abge does betrayal yelling. Good God, you arrogant prick.

krellin, please read what they're saying and try again.

Jesus Christ krellin, why do you have to make everything about politics?

This is an issue of change that results from technology. Do liberals hate technology? Do conservatives? No? How about change? That's what I thought. This is about a change in the way the consumer market operates, and I think abge was looking for a positive and civilized intellectual discussion of it, so either leave or calm down and talk about the matter rather than filling the thread with a bunch of anger and red herrings with the single goal of turning this thread to the boring, repetitive shit that is already so common on the forum.

Sigh....children....I GET the whining complaint. You birches want your iPhones and your apps,but then birch when stores.change their business models to reflect your buying habits. Give me a break.

More to reader....newspapers are dead....magazines are the living dead...and books have the virus. Barnes and Noble will become 99 percent e-content within 10 if they want to name.profits.and exist....

@Draug

Yeah, but my thinking is, if I already have to go online to see if it's in stock, I might as well just order it online.

@krel

I understand that. What I'm saying is I don't think B&N are playing correctly to their advantages. Their primary advantage is still being able to immediately supply people with physical books, which they are increasingly getting worse at. Now I understand that is a dying business model, so I think it's good that they're branching out, but is the nook really the best way? Apple, Google, and Amazon all sell books on better hardware and have better ecosystems in general.

I'm sorry, krellin, did you not get the memo circa 1985? Caps lock=yelling.

Huge....why DO YOU make this about politics? I made it an issue of REALITY.

And, what about a companies like radio shack and sears. They used to be amazing. Now what? Radio Shack is all but dead and Sears is quickly catching up. How have they changed to survive the future?

Angel - do I have cspa.lock on? Grow the fuck . If I emphasize #a word# with caps.it isn're yelling. Of course, it gives you a reason to whine like a child and ignore the point...so I guess it's distracting to the unintelligent...

Well, as I just got back from Barnes and Noble and Bevmo with "The Age of Innocence" and some Hennessy and vodka...

The physical store is far from dead for me, abgemacht. :)

(Though it'd be nice if one of my applications to such a store ever actually got me a job or, hell, a damn interview...years of useless-for-me Algebra II in high school and college instead of their preparing me for the workplace with job skills and experience classes...a waste of my time then, a wasting away job opportunity now...) >:(

What point have you made? Once again, you're having am argument with yourself. I'm not complaining that stores are innovating, because most aren't. I'm complaining that most stores are doing nothing new, while at the same time getting worse at what they used to be known for.

@obi

You should let me look at your resume. I'm amazing at them.

Angel - Sears did NOT changet....thRu is why they are dying. Duhhhhh. There is NO. Service Sears provides that I can't get elsewhere with better service for cheaper. Thereafter to.fail.

THIS is a concept bleeding hearts fail to grasp: a business that fails fails because it's a bad business. Burger same notion, Apple is a great success because they found a way to STOP failing. Whether hell do they teach you kiddies in collsuceeding ege these days? Do you not get any business education? Because businesses or failing is basic...

???

Yes, I understand that. This was supposed to be a conversation abut *why* companies like Sears failed to innovate. Everyone else understood that, what are you having trouble with?

His grammar, mostly.

@abgemacht:

Maybe, but I don't think that's why I don't get these jobs...

I'm just applying for entry/sales floor/seasonal jobs, after all, and most chains around me insist I apply online...

And that I fill out a 200-or-so question sheet asking every last thing about my personality and work habits and abilities and I give positive answers and so on...

They just ask for that and work experience, really, they don't give me the chance to Obi-ize, as it were, and SAY why I'd be a good candidate despite no experience, it's just experience + multiple choice questions where my answers range from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."

It's intentionally impersonal, so it's hard (for me at least) to ever get a foot in the door...