CHICAGO | General Discussions

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I talked with the owner of the furniture store right there about a month ago. He is going out of business and cursed Chicago and it's taxes and anti-business atmosphere and said hes selling what he can and is heading to Florida.

he should be cursing the internet

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

he should be cursing the internet

Bingo. Haven't shop owners realized this? Some of us like going into stores to try things out but we've had great luck buying online lately with way more selection. It's not the 80s anymore. Consumers have widely adopted online shopping for everything now unless they need something literally right now and can't wait. Moving to another state isn't going to change this. Maybe the shop owner should move to another country which doesn't have great online shopping.

I feel for local businesses always, but how much longer would many of them truly be in business anyway if the pandemic didn't happen? To me, the pandemic basically sped up the inevitable for many mom and pop shops regardless of where they operate out of (low tax or high tax). Very sad but true.

[TWeb]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Bingo. Haven't shop owners realized this? Some of us like going into stores to try things out but we've had great luck buying online lately with way more selection. It's not the 80s anymore. Consumers have widely adopted online shopping for everything now unless they need something literally right now and can't wait. Moving to another state isn't going to change this. Maybe the shop owner should move to another country which doesn't have great online shopping.

I feel for local businesses always, but how much longer would many of them truly be in business anyway if the pandemic didn't happen? To me, the pandemic basically sped up the inevitable for many mom and pop shops regardless of where they operate out of (low tax or high tax). Very sad but true.

Not to mention the massive demographic changes in the neighborhoods on all sides of this area. Someone paying $1m+ for a single family on Southport or $400K for a condo by Milwaukee Ave. is not furnishing it from an old furniture outlet. If they are shopping in person, at a minimum they're checking out Bob's Discount across the river, or more likely heading to Blu Dot or Room and Board for higher end options.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by TWeb

Not to mention the massive demographic changes in the neighborhoods on all sides of this area. Someone paying $1m+ for a single family on Southport or $400K for a condo by Milwaukee Ave. is not furnishing it from an old furniture outlet. If they are shopping in person, at a minimum they're checking out Bob's Discount across the river, or more likely heading to Blu Dot or Room and Board for higher end options.

Thats true too. Evolve or die, basically. I think a lot of businesses have been successful because of their context they live in (time, place, etc). A truly smart business finds ways to evolve when the world has all or mostly left them behind. Let's remind everyone that part of IBM used to make butcher meat scales. Imagine if they never evolved the business (butcher meat scales are still needed so its not the best analogy...maybe an analogy about horse drawn carriages is much better ).

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

he should be cursing the internet

The internet doesn't control local rules and regulations nor property taxes.