Good point on Wal Mart vs. the other stores. M&Ps were fine and I understand the mourning of the loss but time moves on. When I was a kid you could walk a mile form my house in Pompton Lakes, NJ and pick up anything you wanted - including doing all your Christmas shopping - right in that little downtown.
Amazingly, while you can't do that anymore all the stores are still occupied. Lots of them split up into multiple little places. I miss the downtown department store where if you bought a pair of pants alterations were part of the deal but I've somehow managed to get on with my life.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
But in the 50s, 60s and 70s, the mindless drone in us was telling us to buy GM, Ford or Chrysler, and nobody seemed to mind, except those few that bought British Leyland vehicles...:):):):)
BTW, I do make a conscious decision to spread the wealth...I go to Ace first before HD or Lowes...I will often go to the Italian restaurant owned by the Italian guy rather than Olive Garden...but they must be competetive...like my earlier story, bulbs at $16.50 each meant 6 bulbs cost $100.00...those same six bulbs at Home Depot at $5.50 each was $33.00, leaving $67.00 in my pocket...that's free dinner for two nights in an inexpensive restaurant...why should I keep M&P in business when, frankly, I am being ripped???
Yeah, I had a 69 Volvo back when that made me eccentric instead of a traitor....
You want to keep those M&P Italian places going. I can't speak for the ones down your way. Here is Jersey we are so thick with good Italian that I can't imagine how the chains stay in business - but they do!
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
But in the 50s, 60s and 70s, the mindless drone in us was telling us to buy GM, Ford or Chrysler, and nobody seemed to mind, except those few that bought British Leyland vehicles...
True enough, as I lament the loss of Packard, Studebaker, and American Motors. Not to mention the destruction of the subway system in LA after WWII, just so they could sell more busses.
Again, I speak not of the M&P's. I don't think we should penalize success, but nevertheless, whether we speak of the UAW or Toyota or WalMart or CVS, we should be vigilant as a society and make sure that the power they get from their success doesn't go to their head. As you have documented many times before about the UAW and their entitlement attitude from years of successes, and how bad it is, it doesn't mean that a CVS can get an entitlement attitude and think they can buy or strongarm a state legislature or Congress to get favorable laws passed for them.
Remember, too much of a good thing can't be a good thing.
I agree...oddly, your example of CVS is interesting, because while the chains seem to be shrinking, Rite-Aide, CVS and Walgreens (no more Eckerd), so many grocery stores now have independent pharmacies in them that it would be hard for the biggies to literally own the market...oh, and how could I forget Walmart???
Ingles has a pharmacy, Kroger, Publix, they will offer good competetion for the drug chains...IMO...
I think you are missing the big picture, its not that M&P stores are dead, its that B&M (Brick and mortar) stores are dead. I can walk into Best Buy and get no help from an unknowledgeable 17 year old kid or I can stay home and order my 32" LCD TV from Amazon or 6th Ave. It shows up at my door. Its not about Mom and Pops going away, its about stores going away. Specialty stores are given a slight reprieve, if you are in need of expertise and the store can actually offer that information. Bicycle shops, high end stereo / camera shops, and eh, maybe some household durable goods are about the only things I can see surviving. Even clothing, once brands and sizes are identified, can be ordered online.
I agree...oddly, your example of CVS is interesting, because while the chains seem to be shrinking, Rite-Aide, CVS and Walgreens (no more Eckerd), so many grocery stores now have independent pharmacies in them that it would be hard for the biggies to literally own the market...oh, and how could I forget Walmart???
Ingles has a pharmacy, Kroger, Publix, they will offer good competetion for the drug chains...IMO..
We are required to use MedCo mail-order prescriptions for anything over 2 months. There is no reimbursement after that time is elapsed.
You hit it on the head. I shop Amazon for a lot of stuff. Free shipping is great and NO sales tax. Plus you save on gas. I don't know how the CD, DVD and book shops keep their doors open. You cannot beat Amazon for those items. You also don't waste the gas to go look when 99% of the time they do not have the CD, DVD or book you are looking for.
The Olive Garden? The Olive Garden is for rubes who don't know what real Italian is!Shoot, If I want REAL Italian, there a PLENTY of other places I can go!
Heck, being the kind of guy I am, had I been living in the 1950s, I'd be singing the praises of my 1953 Hudson Hornet and my 1955 Packard Patrician.
People have been predicting the death of brick n morter since the 90's. I don't see it happening. Sure I buy stuff from ebay, amazon, etc, all the time, but most things we don't . Sometimes, I want something today, not 3-7 days and/or I don't want to pay an extra $20 to have it tomorrow when I can get it today.
I won't buy clothes on-line, except for the occasional rude t-shirt, I have to try just about everything on, even from the same brands, sizes don't seem to mean much.
Many in my family have worked in retail for most of their careers and have made good to great money doing so. The likes of Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, etc are not going away anytime soon. Online groceries sales is a model that failed a long time ago, sure it can work in certain areas, but for the majority it's not something I'd use. I don't like buying my groceries at a superstore like Walmart, I prefer my traditional local grocery store.
Mail-order Rx isn't going be putting your local Walgreens/CVS out of business either. My wife has been a Pharmacist for about 12 years and works as a district RX mgr for one of the large chains. RX's filled and store sales continue to increase, she still is trying to hire every pharmacist she can, offering $110k base (plus overtime) along with sign-on bonus's of up to $30k to fresh college grads. Like most industries, competition breeds innovation and competitiveness (well maybe not for the big 3) and the drug chains will continue to adapt by changing their business model and by putting stores on convenient locations, and hiring and retaining good people. The retail companies that don't adapt will die off. Nothing new there.
Trust me, if your kid gets an ear infection at 1 am and the emergency room gives you a script for an antibiotic, your sure not going to wait a day or two for the script from mail order, your going to your local 24 hour drug store to get the script filled, plus Wag and CVS have mail order businesses too. The drugstore industry is another area were the M&P is going away. Medicare Part D is killing the little guy, as soon as Med part D went into effect, my wife has had a continous line of M&P Pharmacies wanting to sell their business to her and work for the chains.
As for cds/books, well your local record store is basically extinct and with online music downloads etc, looks like that category will continue to decline for the likes of Best Buy etc. Seems like the large bookstore chains stores keep people coming in by having a large selection and a comfortable atmosphere. I've certainly bought books cheaper on Amazon and Ebay, but sometimes I like to shop in a bookstore, especially with my kids.
The one area I completely have gone online is movie rentals. I've used netflix sine the late 90's. I haven't been in a movie rental store in 10 years. Sure, I can't get the movie I want today, but I like just going to the mailbox to receive and send back our movies.
If you saw who was working at your mail-order RX plant, you might think twice. I've done physical inventory at a mail-order RX plant and none of the workers were American and few could even speak English. The conditions were kind of dirty and unorganized too. If I needed something, I had to ask one of the American-born managers.
If you saw who was working at your mail-order RX plant, you might think twice.
Funny you bring that up Lemko, my wife has employed some dead beat pharmacists that she's fired (substance abuse, stealing etc), many ended up going mail order.
My mail-order pharmacy is Walgreens, but I generally go to the guy I know who lives a half mail..., er, mile away. He works at Sav-On ~3 miles down the road.
Imagine if Amazon had to charge sales tax in every jurisdiction and did away with many of their free shipping deals. Their revenue would boink. But we'd all be driving our American cars a lot more to do our shopping. Maybe....
As a New Yorker who was born surrounded by great Italian restaurants, Olive Garden is what Southerners call Italian...but, it is what we have down here in GA, and their salad is quite good...
My in-laws, from rural Mississippi, thought Italian food was Spaghetti-O's from a can...
I lived in Tallahassee for a year - grad school. Now for the most part it had about as many good Italian places as you might expect in the middle of the Florida panhandle which is to say none. Well, just as I got there a guy who had cooked pizza at the NY Worlds Fair back in the mid-60s opened a place up in an old McDonald's style building. Not much for atmosphere but the food was to die for. Unfortunately he was gone in a year. Lost out to Pizza Hut....
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
Since this thread is no longer about cars, but about marketing and business dynamics 101, I'm going to withdraw and search for a place to talk about cars again..... Y'all enjoy debating the virtues of Bigger is Better, or not. NB :sick:
My in-laws, from rural Mississippi, thought Italian food was Spaghetti-O's from a can...
Ha. For me it was Chef Boyardee ravioli from a can, and that shrink-wrapped pizza that doesn't have a box.
I should note at this juncture that, despite my fairly awful experiences with domestic cars, my dad's '98 S-10 seems to be doing fine. Of course, he only drives it to the dump and back once a week. :P
Olive Garden is what Southerners call Italian...but, it is what we have down here in GA, and their salad is quite good
We only go to the Olive Garden for the Soup and Salad lunch special. The rest of their food is kind of generic. I prefer my wife's cappelini primavera or fresh tomato basil on cappelini. Since moving we will probably not go much. 3 miles was OK, 15 miles is a waste of gas.
My wife wishes there was an Olive Garden closer than 25 miles from here. I don't. There are loads of nice Italian places here. Unfortunately my favorite went and retired.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
FYI: talking about Spaghetti-Os is on topic about American cars, because the merchandise is delivered to Supermarkets in tractor-trailer trucks, many of which are made in America, along with the trailers...
If this was the UAW topic, it is probably a Teamster or UAW driver that drives the truck...
Nice try Bob, but I think we already lost Nvbanker.
I'm renting a LaCrosse at the end of the month (visiting family in Michigan so what else can I rent but some American iron?). If I write a review about it, can I write off the vacation?
Speaking of that sort of thing is Scania still going on is Sweden? That's the part of Saab that GM didn't get. The jet part that GM works their ads from...
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
I agree with this guy's comments on the history of GM. Take a look and tell me what we can expect going forward. My estimation is a complete restructuring in bankruptcy could do the trick. The proverbial pan whacked across the side of the head!
I've been reading rants for over a year. The problem is that it makes too much sense. An incompetent board will never kick Wagoner out. Thus dooming both the board and Wagoner. What's true is that "Lutz" is the shining star.
Local car dealer---American brand---had a coupe Si w/10k miles..Took it for a spin and it ain't my choice, fun car but tiring to drive..Offered them 15k and left..Noisy, and doesn't ignite until the RPMs climb..
However for a price, I could adapt to it for a few months..
If money is no object, I'd say go ahead and get the Vette. On the other hand, a miled-up RWD Cadillac STS can be had under $20,000, and is probably a slightly nicer car than a new Mustang.
But I could easily name 15 other cars I'd rather have.
Yes, however, we are talking about a car for motorcity6. Nothing, IMO. represents buying American better than a Chevy Corvette. You know that baseball and apple pie thing?
I drove the Cadillac version of the Corvette, and it was definitely fun, though not overwhelming in the power delivery. My senses in that department are a little jaded, though, due to my owning and frequent riding a Triumph Rocket III.
Mechanics and tow truck drivers everywhere will rejoice. Hell, if the Edmunds forums help Chrysler's sales go up 100% in the next 3 months, I'll open up tow truck and chrysler repair shop businesses for sure!
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
The Cadillac XLR-V has a S/C 4.4l while the ZR-1 has a S/C 6.2l. There is no replacement for displacement. 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. Maybe you should test drive one if you can find it and compare it to the Triumph Rocket III.
I'm not! I have a few and have no fear of any of them. I just took my 1989 Cadillac Brougham with 157K miles on it from Philly to Carlisle and back a couple weeks ago. I had absolutely no problems. I drive my 20 year-old Buick Park Avenue just about everyday with no fear of a breakdown and I travel through some pretty scary neighborhoods at that!
Fiberglass works better in Boats...Never a Vette fan. Two-seaters aren't really a great turnon, even though the 2+2 in many cases is really a misnomer..
My female partner's son this last Nov had imbibed too much at home and decided to drive to town, however misjudged a curve and ran off the road, but was able to drive the car, but some good samartian calls the law and he was nabbed..Yep-6 mos. no license. Car was a 07 Vette conv w/700 miles--stickered around 65k and undercarriage damage was such that the insurance co. totaled it, wrote check and all ended well..he had a 5k deductible and car was heavily discounted new. Has a five-car garage with three other vehicles..Since the economy is getting tanked, he is looking at a Honda Civic EX..Extreme flip-flop..In the garage covered is a S/C Mustang that has consumed $50k in modifications, it gets driven couple times a month.
The Mustang GT is probably my best bet and I am watching the local Jag dealer used car lot for they have an 07 GT, California Special w/3k miles, however they are somewhat pricey with the 24,995 asking, might go offer 17500..
Buying cars is alot like buying a boat, Happiness is measured," the day you buy it and the day you sell it." Boats have always been easier to sell for a profit and cars are a depreciating beast..
I wished they had taken this motor that comes with the Z06 and slapped a S/C on it. It would probably do better being a 7.0 (427) than the 6.2l they have in it now.
Is that engine for real or did somebody Photoshop two V-8s together? Geeze, just think how long the crankshaft and camshaft would be!!! Would this engine have like 16 main bearings? I see GMC on the valve heads. I guess this would be a 700 cid V-16 engine if I assume its similar to the Chevy small block!
Comments
Bob's out practicing now.
Good point on Wal Mart vs. the other stores. M&Ps were fine and I understand the mourning of the loss but time moves on. When I was a kid you could walk a mile form my house in Pompton Lakes, NJ and pick up anything you wanted - including doing all your Christmas shopping - right in that little downtown.
Amazingly, while you can't do that anymore all the stores are still occupied. Lots of them split up into multiple little places. I miss the downtown department store where if you bought a pair of pants alterations were part of the deal but I've somehow managed to get on with my life.
BTW, I do make a conscious decision to spread the wealth...I go to Ace first before HD or Lowes...I will often go to the Italian restaurant owned by the Italian guy rather than Olive Garden...but they must be competetive...like my earlier story, bulbs at $16.50 each meant 6 bulbs cost $100.00...those same six bulbs at Home Depot at $5.50 each was $33.00, leaving $67.00 in my pocket...that's free dinner for two nights in an inexpensive restaurant...why should I keep M&P in business when, frankly, I am being ripped???
You want to keep those M&P Italian places going. I can't speak for the ones down your way. Here is Jersey we are so thick with good Italian that I can't imagine how the chains stay in business - but they do!
True enough, as I lament the loss of Packard, Studebaker, and American Motors. Not to mention the destruction of the subway system in LA after WWII, just so they could sell more busses.
Again, I speak not of the M&P's. I don't think we should penalize success, but nevertheless, whether we speak of the UAW or Toyota or WalMart or CVS, we should be vigilant as a society and make sure that the power they get from their success doesn't go to their head. As you have documented many times before about the UAW and their entitlement attitude from years of successes, and how bad it is, it doesn't mean that a CVS can get an entitlement attitude and think they can buy or strongarm a state legislature or Congress to get favorable laws passed for them.
Remember, too much of a good thing can't be a good thing.
Ingles has a pharmacy, Kroger, Publix, they will offer good competetion for the drug chains...IMO...
Specialty stores are given a slight reprieve, if you are in need of expertise and the store can actually offer that information. Bicycle shops, high end stereo / camera shops, and eh, maybe some household durable goods are about the only things I can see surviving. Even clothing, once brands and sizes are identified, can be ordered online.
Ingles has a pharmacy, Kroger, Publix, they will offer good competetion for the drug chains...IMO..
We are required to use MedCo mail-order prescriptions for anything over 2 months. There is no reimbursement after that time is elapsed.
Heck, being the kind of guy I am, had I been living in the 1950s, I'd be singing the praises of my 1953 Hudson Hornet and my 1955 Packard Patrician.
I won't buy clothes on-line, except for the occasional rude t-shirt, I have to try just about everything on, even from the same brands, sizes don't seem to mean much.
Many in my family have worked in retail for most of their careers and have made good to great money doing so. The likes of Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, etc are not going away anytime soon. Online groceries sales is a model that failed a long time ago, sure it can work in certain areas, but for the majority it's not something I'd use. I don't like buying my groceries at a superstore like Walmart, I prefer my traditional local grocery store.
Mail-order Rx isn't going be putting your local Walgreens/CVS out of business either. My wife has been a Pharmacist for about 12 years and works as a district RX mgr for one of the large chains. RX's filled and store sales continue to increase, she still is trying to hire every pharmacist she can, offering $110k base (plus overtime) along with sign-on bonus's of up to $30k to fresh college grads. Like most industries, competition breeds innovation and competitiveness (well maybe not for the big 3) and the drug chains will continue to adapt by changing their business model and by putting stores on convenient locations, and hiring and retaining good people. The retail companies that don't adapt will die off. Nothing new there.
Trust me, if your kid gets an ear infection at 1 am and the emergency room gives you a script for an antibiotic, your sure not going to wait a day or two for the script from mail order, your going to your local 24 hour drug store to get the script filled, plus Wag and CVS have mail order businesses too. The drugstore industry is another area were the M&P is going away. Medicare Part D is killing the little guy, as soon as Med part D went into effect, my wife has had a continous line of M&P Pharmacies wanting to sell their business to her and work for the chains.
As for cds/books, well your local record store is basically extinct and with online music downloads etc, looks like that category will continue to decline for the likes of Best Buy etc. Seems like the large bookstore chains stores keep people coming in by having a large selection and a comfortable atmosphere. I've certainly bought books cheaper on Amazon and Ebay, but sometimes I like to shop in a bookstore, especially with my kids.
The one area I completely have gone online is movie rentals. I've used netflix sine the late 90's. I haven't been in a movie rental store in 10 years. Sure, I can't get the movie I want today, but I like just going to the mailbox to receive and send back our movies.
Funny you bring that up Lemko, my wife has employed some dead beat pharmacists that she's fired (substance abuse, stealing etc), many ended up going mail order.
Imagine if Amazon had to charge sales tax in every jurisdiction and did away with many of their free shipping deals. Their revenue would boink. But we'd all be driving our American cars a lot more to do our shopping. Maybe....
My in-laws, from rural Mississippi, thought Italian food was Spaghetti-O's from a can...
Yeah, but unlike you New Yawkers, they knew how big a grit was.
If anyone would like to talk about the topic, please jump in. Meanwhile it's time for me to cook up a mess of grits. :shades:
Ha. For me it was Chef Boyardee ravioli from a can, and that shrink-wrapped pizza that doesn't have a box.
I should note at this juncture that, despite my fairly awful experiences with domestic cars, my dad's '98 S-10 seems to be doing fine. Of course, he only drives it to the dump and back once a week. :P
We only go to the Olive Garden for the Soup and Salad lunch special. The rest of their food is kind of generic. I prefer my wife's cappelini primavera or fresh tomato basil on cappelini. Since moving we will probably not go much. 3 miles was OK, 15 miles is a waste of gas.
All grown in the USA of course.
My wife wishes there was an Olive Garden closer than 25 miles from here. I don't. There are loads of nice Italian places here. Unfortunately my favorite went and retired.
If this was the UAW topic, it is probably a Teamster or UAW driver that drives the truck...
I have to try, you know...:):):):):)... :sick:
There are some here who would not eat those Spaghetti-Os if they been delivered in a Volvo truck...
I'm renting a LaCrosse at the end of the month (visiting family in Michigan so what else can I rent but some American iron?). If I write a review about it, can I write off the vacation?
Speaking of that sort of thing is Scania still going on is Sweden? That's the part of Saab that GM didn't get. The jet part that GM works their ads from...
link title
Regards,
OW
However for a price, I could adapt to it for a few months..
Life is short. Live every minute.
Yes, however, we are talking about a car for motorcity6. Nothing, IMO. represents buying American better than a Chevy Corvette. You know that baseball and apple pie thing?
Mechanics and tow truck drivers everywhere will rejoice. Hell, if the Edmunds forums help Chrysler's sales go up 100% in the next 3 months, I'll open up tow truck and chrysler repair shop businesses for sure!
Buick Lucerne CXS
Buick LaCrosse Super
Cadillac DTS Performance
Cadillac STS
Cadillac CTS
Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Impala SS
Chrysler 300-C SRT8
Dodge Charger Hemi
Dodge Challenger
Dodge Viper
Ford Mustang GT
Pontiac G8 GT
Pontiac Solstice
Saturn Sky
My female partner's son this last Nov had imbibed too much at home and decided to drive to town, however misjudged a curve and ran off the road, but was able to drive the car, but some good samartian calls the law and he was nabbed..Yep-6 mos. no license. Car was a 07 Vette conv w/700 miles--stickered around 65k and undercarriage damage was such that the insurance co. totaled it, wrote check and all ended well..he had a 5k deductible and car was heavily discounted new. Has a five-car garage with three other vehicles..Since the economy is getting tanked, he is looking at a Honda Civic EX..Extreme flip-flop..In the garage covered is a S/C Mustang that has consumed $50k in modifications, it gets driven couple times a month.
The Mustang GT is probably my best bet and I am watching the local Jag dealer used car lot for they have an 07 GT, California Special w/3k miles, however they are somewhat pricey with the 24,995 asking, might go offer 17500..
Buying cars is alot like buying a boat, Happiness is measured," the day you buy it and the day you sell it." Boats have always been easier to sell for a profit and cars are a depreciating beast..
Stock market rocks today!!!!.
If that were the case, the ZR-1 would have one of these instead of a V8 with a blower.
Let me guess; the all GM show in late June