Technology has taken us further than I could have ever
anticipated. Most of us have adapted to this
lifestyle where computers are capable of just about anything and
everything. Lots of consumers have taken
the leap into online shopping, which has led many different stores to close
their doors. Best Buy
is one of the latest stores to announce its plans to close some store
fronts. In a statement made by the
electronic company, they announced their plans to close 50 stores across the
country. Two of those stores will be
right here in the Boston area. The
Wareham and Boston Back Bay stores are set to close in just about a month. In my opinion, this poses a problem. It honestly frightens me that so many people
are investing most of their lives into a virtual world. When it comes to shopping, I personally get a
thrill out of gathering items and physically putting them into a carriage. Clicking a mouse and adding things to an
“online cart” just doesn’t give me that same high.
It’s depressing to think about all of the stores that have
closed down over the years. I remember
growing up with stores like Caldor, Ames, and a previous competitor of Best
Buy, CompUSA. Those stores always seemed
successful in my eyes, but apparently they just didn’t make the cut. In the past decade or so, I have also noticed
that there really have not been any new successful chains that have
opened. I’m concerned that the stores we
can shop in now may be all that we will ever have, until all stores ultimately
go extinct. Closing down stores isn’t
just an inconvenience to in-store shoppers, like myself, but to the employees
as well. In a time of high unemployment
rates, we need these stores around to produce jobs. So many people find careers in retail,
whether it is being a sales associate to a store manager. We need to ensure that these stores remain
open so these positions stay intact.
On the bright side, Best Buy hasn’t decided to go completely
out of business yet. They are still
holding on, and will hopefully escape the fate that was CompUSA. I hope that more consumers will restore their
passionate feelings towards shopping in-store, rather than online. And, just because a large fraction of the
world has succumbed to a high-tech, fast-pace lifestyle, not everyone has been
converted yet. Not everyone feels comfortable living their
lives, or even shopping, through a computer screen.
Some people used to get a thrill out of riding in a horse and buggy. Others considered it inconvenient, especially when it rained. But if you still want the experience, you can still find places where you can buy a ticket and go for a ride.
ReplyDeleteBest Buy deserves to die. Or at least, their senior management should be fired. They were successful in winning their cutthroat battle with CompUSA by virtue of their superior customer service, knowledgeable store clerks, and diverse electronic appliances. But once the competition went bankrupt, Best Buy cut back in all of those areas in order to increase profits. They're now reaping the long-term consequences of those short-sighted decisions.
Disintermediation is the buzzword for this century. All "brick and mortar" stores will face extreme pressure to justify their existence. Electronic stores are in trouble because Morre's Law drives a fast pace of innovation. Likewise bookstores are obsolete because of ordinary consumers switching to ebooks. Grocery stores will probably be the next to go.
The problem is that this is completely true. Although Best Buy might have deserved this predicament that they are currently in, I would like to point out that libraries, bookstores, and grocery stores do not. The fact is that they are all going to go under sooner or later because that is where this world deprived of social contact is leading us.
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