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Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

nytimes.com

311–320 of 336 posts

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#311
post #92
post #63

I'm gonna miss it. I always thought it had an interesting Job to be Done when I observed my behavior with the store. We had one a few blocks from my home, and though I order from Amazon like I'm trying to win some kind of game, I'd go to BBB when I needed something that day and didn't want to spend any time on research. It was almost guaranteed that the thing I'd buy would just naturally be at the top of a review sit…

That's the role Costco has been filling for a lot of Americans recently. Most of the time you are going to find something at a decent price, that may not be best in class but at least it's going to be near the top of the price/utility curve.

Costco sells samsung washing machines lol.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#312
post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Abandoned? You know people own two homes and live in them seasonally w/o them being vandalized? Source: have a summer cabin that's never been rack sacked by vandals.

ransacked. Dictionary says it's from Norse: rann (house) + soekja (seek).

As perfected by the (Norse) Vikings!

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#313
post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It certainly feels like money is going to lose its value eventually. Everyone is becoming wealthy by just clicking buy. When people start using that money, what will happen? Markups from exceed demand — inflation.

Inflation of what though? Real estate is the only asset on the planet we can't just manufacture more of. iPhones, cars, clothes...all of that is disposable and near infinitely reproducible. A person can't eat more then a very limited amount of food per day, regardless of their wealth. So what's going to inflate?

Why, the misery of poor folks, of course - as measured against a representative bundle of various non-value-producing traumas (i.e. Rich People Problems, in the common parlance.)

You see, when the "We" you reference in your second sentence - who I will actually refer to as "They" going forward (I hope this is not too presumptuous, if it is please notify me as quickly as you can after your 1st or 2nd eight-hour shift and I will update this) - Anyhow, the issue arises when They are no longer sufficiently motivated to infinitely reproduce these iPhones, cars, clothes, etc. for everyone to consume and dispose of. It should go without saying that this state of affairs is massively destabilizing for both We and They.

As the parent to your comment astutely observes, when "everyone is becoming wealthy by just clicking buy" (note: I will likewise be using the term "everyone" in the usual sense, as shorthand for "everyone I care about or know too well to assume financial standing directly maps to moral standing") then there is simply too much money sloshing around for it to continue flowing within the Banks as intended. It then, to borrow a phrase from esteemed economist Dr. Bonzo, begins trickling down to ever lower segments of the population. Obviously, this is Very Bad; and indeed, if this trickle-down continues it may eventually reach populations far below C-level.

That brings us to our current crisis. In the above context, you may think of the money-printer-go-brr approach of 2020 onward as a sort of Hundred Year Flood. What's worse, this flood was already largely concentrated in the lowest-lying areas it was ever intended to reach. Although We had the foresight to levy protective taxes on these areas, even these levees became overtaxed in the deluge and the usual trickle turned into a torrent. Suddenly, even the poor could afford to purchase some of the things they produced. Needless to say, this caused a dramatic decrease in the Productive Misery supply at exactly the moment when We demanded it most. Enter inflation.

Looking back on this disaster, one thing is clear: Though I'd always considered the phrase far too pessimistic to be true, a rising tide really does lift all boats. In fact, these days the yacht gets stuck in traffic so often, I wonder if a third one is even worth it.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#314
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try Avacado Mattress. I genuinely love the product and if you were to believe their spiel it’s probably sustainable and eco friendly…

$2,000 for a queen sized mattress? No thank you.

It's funny how you wouldn't blink at a $20,000 car, but $2,000 for a mattress that you'll use for eight hours every day for the next several years is "No thank you."

A good mattress can make your life better in ways that few other things will, on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Sleep is important.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mattresses are a huge racket in general. Think about how often you need to buy a mattress and then consider how many stores in you area sell only mattresses out of expensive storefronts full of salesmen. The margins per mattress have to be astronomical to support a business model like that. But on the other hand they are very heavy and bulky which makes them expensive to ship and since people generally need to try se…

The places like that around here seem to make their money off expensive massage recliners and other deluxe furniture, where the mattresses are just there to get people in the door every so often.

Maybe around there. Where we are you can't find a store that charges under $2500 for a Mattress. Was such a racket I rolled the dice on a $300 shipped mattress from Amazon. No issues insanely comfortable. I'd absolutely buy another

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#316
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But cross-contamination in a shared production facility can happen fairly easily (and is important for folks who are sensitive to a few parts-per-million of gluten), hence why lots of packets have that warning in the small print. An obvious "gluten-free" label means that the producer is asserting that this cross-contamination hasn't occurred and you don't have to search the small print.

From what I understand gluten intolerance (including Celiac disease) is not at all like allergies where even a small amount of cross contamination can be harmful (or even deadly). Gluten intolerance really needs a solid amount (which many foods provide) to trigger problems, and the worry is really the long-term damage that can be done. So I think that the "gluten-free" labels on things that obviously would not have g…

Celiac disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity are very different beasts in terms of their effects. The latter is more likely to triggered in the presence of (as you say) non-trivial amounts of gluten; Celiac disease is an auto-immune disease that, while not normally at the level of anaphylactic shock, can have very unpleasant effects in tiny amounts.

And even within Celiac disease there are a lot of variations. My mother has been diagnosed as Celiac for 50 years (back before most doctors had heard of it, and she almost died from malnutrition pre-diagnosis). She obviously avoids anything that has any mention of wheat, or has been cooked in the same oil as glutenous food; she generally avoids anything that mentions "possible cross-contamination" on the label but doesn't have to be a total stickler. I don't think she's had a serious attack in many years. A friend of mine was diagnosed as Celiac maybe 10 years ago, and is incredibly sensitive - despite his best efforts he seems to end up with horrible symptoms every couple of months or so just through tiny amounts of contamination.

The FDA limit for claiming something is "gluten-free" is 20 ppm; I believe that level exists partly because it's very hard to detect anything less than that anyway, but it also fits in well with what most Celiac sufferers can tolerate.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#317
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the role Costco has been filling for a lot of Americans recently. Most of the time you are going to find something at a decent price, that may not be best in class but at least it's going to be near the top of the price/utility curve.

I’ve switched a large percentage of my shopping to Costco for this reason. Like Amazon, I can return it no questions asked if it sucks. Unlike Amazon, it probably won’t suck.

Costco is also nicer to their employees

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> don’t follow any rationality anymore Anymore? When have markets ever been rational? Markets only line up with reality over the long term. You can point to any instant, and even any decade in time, and point major inaccuracies in the public's collective financial thinking. > Houses can sit empty without tenants for years but they’ll only go up. Do you have stats for how much of a problem this is? The problem seems t…

>> You can point to any instant, and even any decade in time, and point major inaccuracies in the public's collective financial thinking. Examples: today Halliburton and GE Health both posted numbers that be the market and saw big drops in value, while Spotify missed big time and swung to a loss, yet saw their stock price go up. Everybody points to potential but totally dismisses today's reality.

The key thing to remember is “market” is simply a collective noun for “investor”.

It doesn’t have to follow any logical law. People can buy or sell at any time, for any reason, and the market price will move along with it.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#319
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to buy a mattress. Mattress review sites are all phony. Amazon is all phony reviews. Mattress FIRM is hugely overpriced. Bed, Bath, and Beyond's brands were just names they'd acquired. That entire industry has managed to shoot itself in the foot. Probably better to order from an actual manufacturer on Alibaba.

Mattresses are a huge racket in general. Think about how often you need to buy a mattress and then consider how many stores in you area sell only mattresses out of expensive storefronts full of salesmen. The margins per mattress have to be astronomical to support a business model like that. But on the other hand they are very heavy and bulky which makes them expensive to ship and since people generally need to try se…

And here they have all the sale campaigns going on almost year round. Dropping price 40-50% or more. And they likely still make hefty profit...

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It provides a service to companies who need money today for their expansion (through the IPO and secondary-offerings mechanisms) I get that issuing stock is a way for companies to raise capital, but once it’s out there, how does a company benefit when I buy 100 of their shares from you? Is it different than the used record or book market?

Each time someone buys a stock, the stock value rises (meaning the next secondary offering will be able to achieve more money raised with less shares issued). The stock value rises because you didn't buy 100 shares from me per se. You bought the 100-cheapest shares on the market, which naturally raises the price. ---------- Lets say the market depth looks like the following: * 5 shares available at $95.20 * 15 shares…

So it’s not very different from the used book market. A book that sells well on the secondary market might get another printing which benefits the rights holders.
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