Online Buying vs Brick & Mortar.

[scootr]

Online buying has hurt brick and mortar stores for a decade or more now. It's been years since I entered the Super Walmart in town, or the Home Depot or the tire store or many others. I've bought all the things I used to run to town for online. It's more convenient. I can shop at all hours of the day or night and stuff arrives at the house. Case in point, yesterday I bought an upgraded sway bar and shocks for my car online.
A pair of shorts and a shirt for an upcoming trip online. A 10 pound roll of mig welding wire and 2 pounds of dog biscuits online. A tire grooving tool for my friend and a solar driveway alarm for the same old friend.
Nowadays Seems I go to the store for fun more than the things I need.

 

[2manyrocks]

About every small town used to have a courthouse square with the county court and county officials in the courthouse surrounded by locally owned department clothing stores, five and dime stores, hardware stores, dry cleaners, banks, insurance agencies, car dealerships, realtors, and drug stores. There weren't any fast food chains in my hometown. There was a soda fountain shop in each of the local drug stores. A couple of locally owned places to eat.

The chain stores underpriced the local retail merchants, and they have pretty much been gone for 30 years with a few exceptions. The financial wealth that used to stay in the local community has been sucked out to distant corporate HQs.

Whether brick and mortars will continue remains to be seen. Obviously, they are hedging their bets both ways because Home Depot has on-line ordering and a substantial investment in brick and mortar locations. I don't think UPS will start delivering 2x4s and bags of cement to my house at a price I can afford.

 

[MossRoad]

About the only stores we go to anymore are grocery and Menards.

Once in a while we'll head to the outlet mall to get clothes and shoes. I still like to try things on before buying and so does my wife.

I don't count flea markets or antique stores. That's just for fun.

 

[Paddy]

It used to be a brick and mortar store came with some level of expertise. Now it's just kids that don't know anything. Why pay higher price?

NAPA had my Kubota air filter for $69, Amazon had it for $23

we do still have a few old hardware type stores that have 6-7 employees manning the store, I'd bet their average age is 55 and know their stuff

 

[2manyrocks]

We have one surviving hardware store passed down from the grandparents to the parents to the grandchildren, and one surviving lumber company that may or may not make it through the present generation.

 

[Blue Mule]

If I can save substantial money, I order online. If prices are even remotely close to being similar, I shop locally at a store because 1) I like supporting the local economy and 2) It's easier to return the item if I have a problem with it.

The one exception is hardware. We have an ACE branded hardware store in town. Every thing in that store is priced higher than a cat's back. It's ridiculous. But, sometimes when it comes to hardware you've just got to have it NOW and so sometimes I bite the bullet and shop in there so I can get the job done today.

 

[2manyrocks]

Used to have a Radio Shack and a Sears ordering outlet. They didn't have merchandise in the store, but you could go in and order to pickup when it came in. I can't remember when we got the last big Sears catalog, but I think it was in the 1980s?

edit: 1993. Before Folding 30 Years Ago, the Sears Catalog Sold Some Surprising Products

 

[ddbackhoe]

If I can save substantial money, I order online. If prices are even remotely close to being similar, I shop locally at a store because 1) I like supporting the local economy and 2) It's easier to return the item if I have a problem with it.

The one exception is hardware. We have an ACE branded hardware store in town. Every thing in that store is priced higher than a cat's back. It's ridiculous. But, sometimes when it comes to hardware you've just got to have it NOW and so sometimes I bite the bullet and shop in there so I can get the job done today.

The local Ace was bought by a place out of NJ during covid. Price changes took effect immediately. Last thing I was going to buy there rang up higher than the shelf sticker. I was told whatever the computer ings up is right, the sticker is wrong. I left the item and wont be back. It can wait until the UPS, Amazon or Fedex truck comes by.

 

[ddbackhoe]

It used to be a brick and mortar store came with some level of expertise. Now it's just kids that don't know anything. Why pay higher price?

retail has made their own bed. Everything self serve, even the cash register. Why would I want to stand in line to help myself?

 

[Hay Dude]

I guess it depends on what I’m buying. If its a standard item I am used to buying, like a tube of grease, I am 50/50 online or walking into a store.
If it’s a chainsaw, I’m going to a walk in dealer 100% so I can pick it up, handle it, run it, make sure I like the way it operates.