31–40 of 276 posts
Of all the things in the world, children's toys are THE most amenable to replacement by makers, tinkerers, and other people who want to do something in the real world. (Alas, that's not what's happened. People just buy the cheap plastic crap from Amazon.)
I have come to the conclusion that it is very hard for a specialty businesses to survive in the era of Walmart and Amazon - which does not bode well long term for places like Barnes & Noble and Gamestop. I hope I am wrong.
It really is unfortunate that stores I grew up with as a kid, ones like KB Toys, Montgomery Wards, Service Merchandise, Blockbuster, Kmart/Sears, and now even Toys"R"Us have gone by the wayside for one reason or another. It both depresses me and blows my mind that future generations may not even be able to experience Brick and Mortar.
Those toy stores were worthless palaces of consumerist made-in-china crap. I'm happy to see them go.
I have come to the conclusion that it is very hard for a specialty businesses to survive in the era of Walmart and Amazon - which does not bode well long term for places like Barnes & Noble and Gamestop. I hope I am wrong.
Gamestop has no hope for a continued existence with their current business model. Frankly, I'm surprised they are still around.
It really is unfortunate that stores I grew up with as a kid, ones like KB Toys, Montgomery Wards, Service Merchandise, Blockbuster, Kmart/Sears, and now even Toys"R"Us have gone by the wayside for one reason or another. It both depresses me and blows my mind that future generations may not even be able to experience Brick and Mortar.
Do we really want our kids to enjoy fluorescent-lit warehouses full of cheap crap that will be thrown away a couple months after it's bought?
They will only appreciate your dedication to environmentalism when theyre older
[1] https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/intellectual-proper...
It really is unfortunate that stores I grew up with as a kid, ones like KB Toys, Montgomery Wards, Service Merchandise, Blockbuster, Kmart/Sears, and now even Toys"R"Us have gone by the wayside for one reason or another. It both depresses me and blows my mind that future generations may not even be able to experience Brick and Mortar.
Do we really want our kids to enjoy fluorescent-lit warehouses full of cheap crap that will be thrown away a couple months after it's bought?
Web is very very far from solving the browsing problem. Sometimes I know I want but have no idea what exactly I want. So you go to the store to look around.
Sometimes I also like to ask the sales associate, “I have so and so nephew, what should I get for them?”. Web still sucks at solving the librarian/curator/advicegiver problem.
I personally feel that, similar to bookstores which as seen a resurgence in neighborhood mom & pop stores, while Amazon will continue to dominate, a lot of smaller toy retailers (both online and offline) will spring up to take Toys r Us' space.