Two major corporations have declared bankruptcy this week, one a bookseller and the other a video rental franchise. I need to write a story about it but I’m struggling to determine what, if anything, is lost when these brick and mortar stores close due to the shift to digital media. What do you think? Have you ever had a store close in your area? Did it have any affect on you? Pick a side and argue whether it’s important to have these stores in the community or if natural selection of the capitalist-kind is the better way to go.
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As they say, it’s a dog eat world out there. In a way, it’s sad to see company’s close and businesses becuase that means people are out of jobs and have to looking for another one which is never easy to do but in another way perhaps a new business will emerge from the old one and create new jobs. I haven’t noticed or seen. Business close where I live at which is in North Pole but I have seen blockbuster not really have any business cause of the prices and that you can just streams movies and games right from your home it makes the process easier and people don’t have to drive anywhere to grab something to watch and play. It’s just we are moving forward to the future and becuase of that we have to keep up with it and unfortunatly that means some business have to close but perhaps it’s for the best in the long run it’s all a matter of opinion.
Yes! People have to keep up if they want to make it. It is all a matter of opinion, in my post I mentioned those niche markets that like physical copies, but even then you can order those online. Blockbuster closed for a reason, seriously.
The saying is that time changes all and this is especially true in corporate America. When I read about a video rental franchise and a store that sells books, Blockbuster and Barnes & Noble come to mind. Honestly, I feel the need for Blockbuster has come and gone. This also goes for any video rental store out there for that matter. At one time, about 12-15 years ago, they served a very specific need and were very successful. I asked my wife when the last time we were in a video rental store and we realized it was before we were even married 6 years ago. Today we have everything at our fingertips with Netflix, Hulu, pay-per-view, and on demand. Everything that the video rental store offers, the same is offered in your home through online streaming. So, when a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video goes out of business, I do not lose any sleep because society has not lost anything. Well, maybe jobs, but that’s about it. Bookstores are completely different though, in my opinion. Although we can download any book into an e-book, I feel that bookstores offer more than what meets the eye. Take Barnes & Noble for an example. Why do we visit this bookstore? It’s all about the total experience we encounter that keeps us coming back. There’s a Starbucks store, free wi-fi, and fireplace with couches. It serves as college students studying grounds, business meetings, and children’s afternoon story time. It’s all about networking and connecting at Barnes & Noble, not just about the sale of books. To lose a bookstore is a much greater loss to a community than losing a video rental store. At the end of the day, capitalism will determine the direction of the market as new technology is introduced to us. It’s only a matter of when, not if, all video rental stores will be out of business.
That’s really interesting how you mentioned that a business not only sells merchandise, but sells an experience. Now that I think of it, I find myself being sucked into places like that. For example, I go to a certain restaurant, not because their food is out of this world, but because I love the atmosphere and it conjures up memories of my past. The atmosphere completely makes up for the lack of quality food (at least for me; value is subjective of course) and it’s just a nice place to be. Well stated and insightful.
I feel the need for Mom-And-Pop shops is quite necessary from an economic stand point. While it’s no longer WANTED, really, shops like small video rental stores, and shops like Gulliver’s books are what keeps this economy running. To also support my argument, in small towns, much like the towns scattered across Alaska, video rental shops are means of watching new films. In my hometown of Delta Junction, there’s this little movie rental store, that rents new-releases for just $3.00 is movie, and the business is one of the more thriving ones in our town.
Whenever I can, I try to travel down to California to visit my family. The town they live in is an old, Victorian-style, one-street, dairy community built by Portuguese immigrants. Picture it as a typical 1940’s town with a local butcher, an ice cream parlor, Papa Joe’s (the local hang-out burger joint), and a milkman. As technology advanced and companies became more efficient at producing and distributing their product, the small “ma & pa” stores started going out of business because they couldn’t produce the same product for the same price. Their quality may have been slightly better, but it was also more expensive. This inevitably led to many of the small businesses closing.
With this in mind, was anything lost in the town where my family lived due to the fact that small businesses were taken over by larger companies? Besides the wonderful nostalgia that you’d lose from being in a little town with it’s own grocer who still uses paper bags, I would argue that the town is better off because the products they are getting are more available, more convenient, and cheaper. In a capitalistic society such as ours, business is competitive. This means that companies, in order survive the market, must create a better product than their competitors. So naturally, because some companies will be more efficient, other businesses will have to close down due to lack of profits. This is not bad, however! Instead of staying in a field that they aren’t very efficient in, a business that closes down then has the opportunity to go into a new field of work (or put a new twist on the same field)! This way, only the best products are on the market and new products are in the making.
With an understanding of this, is it bad that these book and video rental stores are closing? I would say no. In order to provide a more convenient, less costly book or video, companies need to change with the times in order to stay in business. New online companies emerge, replacing the old ones. That’s how business works. This process is called “creative destruction” and is the reason we don’t have milkmen anymore – they were replaced with better technology. So, I am not worried about the book and video rental businesses going down because its a natural process of our economic system. As long as it is done naturally (without government interference) and between private businesses, it’s perfectly okay.
I’m a person that values hard copies of entertainment. I enjoy the easy and quick access to online streaming of movies, but I have preference for reading items such as newspapers, books, and magazines in print rather than digital. I believe that as aliteracy declines (hence more people are choosing to read), the need for book stores will continue. Given that a lot of people enjoy reading on Nooks or other tablets, it’s wise for book stores to offer a bit more in their services. However, I think hard copies of literature are very important. There’s a certain authenticity that comes along with being able to hold a work in your hands. Movies are less important (for lack of better phrasing) to maintain a physical copy of because they are shown through technology. You watch movies on TV, laptops, and tablets. It makes sense for this medium to go digital. It’s like when VHS went down and DVD became dominant. Technology developed and therefore the medium shown on the technology developed with it.
I think the closing of certain types of media/technological based stores can be both good and bad, depending on the specific type of store. For stores such as bookstores, magazine stands, newspapers, etc., I think it’s important for continuation. Anybody can be an author on the internet. Like I stated before, hard copies of written media produce more of an authentic and trustworthy feel, while online articles can sometimes be questionable when it comes to credibility. However, with the rising popularity of instant access, it’s important to establish an online presence while maintaining a physical manifestation. For stores such as movie rentals or music stores, I think it’s less important for a physical presence because the forms of video and music were made for technology.
I grew up around Billings, Montana, and we had three major bookstores: Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Hastings. Borders closed. Since we had two other stores, it wasn’t such a big deal. However, I believe B&N and Hastings survived because of a variety of reasons. B&N has embraced digital books along with print, introducing their Nook to the world. Hastings is a book store, a music store, and a video store combined in one. I think the fact that it has a bit of everything has allowed it to appeal to a wide enough audience to survive. Both businesses host coffee shops.
competition is good for the market. with so many choices out there as to where to shop; you as the customer decide the fate of those companies or mom-and-pop shops. usually when a store closes it is because something better has come along. when bigger stores take out the little ones they usually have sales frequently and accompanying deals. bigger businesses create more jobs in the community and bring in more revenue. physically having to go get a product…who has time for that anymore. The ease of access to so much content all at the touch of your fingertips has taken over the world. many people are going to choose digital over hard copy most of the time. it is easier to access, keep track of and takes up so little room.
Video rental, specifically physical video renting, is overwhelmingly outdated. Certainly there is a niche of people who enjoy having the hard copy, and let them have it, but if the majority of society is moving forward, make them pay for it. I do believe this is more natural selection than capitalism. How many of you remember being so frustrated that you had to return the movie that day, when you were already home after working more than an 8 hour work day, or accept the late fees? It was awful! If anyone here can sincerely argue against convenience, I would love to hear it. Nothing is lost, these sort of companies just need to move forward and figure out how to make their product accessible and convenient to the everyday person,
Undoubtedly, the times are changing. With the rise of digital media, physical media is being forced to compete with the sheer convenience of downloadable electronic products. This is most visible with video rental stores like Blockbuster. After all, why go out and spend money to rent a movie (that must be returned later, I might add) when one can simply turn on the television and use a service such as Netflix to instantly watch said movie?
However, bookstores are another matter entirely. With movies, an already electronic form of media, the only thing lost to digital media is the time and money spent to obtain them. Bookstores are unfortunately losing money to digital e-books, and personally, I find that to be a very sad thing. Nothing beats feeling of a new book. The rustle of turning pages, the smell of the paper, the weight of it in one’s hands, and above all, the ability to find someplace away from screens and other distractions to simply enjoy a story for what it is. With an e-book, the text may be there, but many other things are lost in translation.
If I had to choose between reading a paperback/hardcopy or on an e-reader, I would also choose the actual book. The only reason I have an e-reader is so I don’t have to carry a backpack of a book series every time I move ( which I am known to do, much to my husband’s exasperation).
I do have to say, when I was a kid living overseas, we rented movies because that was all we had to watch. Nowadays there are so many ways to access a movie from your home without having to leave. Though I do think back on the times of rushing to Blockbuster on the day of the new release of a movie, hoping to get one of the copies to watch Friday night. So nostalgic.
I often times find that when I have a store that I favor, it is predestined to close. Usually it’s a book store, which I always happen to grow attached to, because I love to read. Then I am left in despair, desperately trying to find another store to replace it. Today I frequent Barnes and Noble, own a Nook, and occasionally shop online at Amazon to get my fix. I prefer these methods because there isn’t really a likely chance these business will close any time soon. I also like my e-reader, but I do prefer to have a paperback in hand, which means I prefer to shop in-store as opposed to on the web. I do remember a time, about seven years back when I visited Gulliver’s Books. The selection there was very dismal at the time. I only visited there a few times before finding another store that fit my needs. Though after the last few chapters in this class, once I get back to Alaska I will be giving it another chance. I do wish the “brick and mortar†stores could stay around, but when they do not have the products or have their wares digitized to keep up with current technology, they will fail. Throughout history, all things, whether its people or cultures, have had to change and adapt to survive. It only seems fitting that “mom and pop†stores would need to do the same. The consumers who frequent these stores are not going to be around on this earth forever, and when they are gone they will be replaced by younger consumers who will want the new technologies the old stores lack. If they are not willing to keep up with modern times, natural selection of the capitalist-kind will be the inevitable outcome.
I’ve never had a store close down in any of the neighborhoods I’ve lived in, but some have certainly come close. In my experience the people of a community will quickly, and quite strongly stand up in favor of quaint family-owned stores. I honestly feel that it has nothing to do with the preference of brick and mortar stores over digital media, I simply think its because of the community energy. There is something extremely prideful about having a store in the community that has been there for ten or twenty plus years. I think their is definitely a loss when these stores close because the community loses a piece of its identity.
I agree with you when it comes to community. But even community is becoming a thing of the past. We are lucky here in Alaska to have such a strong sense of community, but I feel many places are falling apart because they lose their brick and mortar stores and people are growing up knowing nothing but these big chains.
It is very much a way of capitalism and the free market to have the build of competition. It is an evolving time and those businesses must either adapt to the ways it is becoming or branch out in order to keep itself alive. While it is true that there are those who still enjoy having the hard copy of the book in there hand as I am one of them, I do find it appealing to be able to have the electronic version in which I may access from anywhere with internet. The fact that it makes it easier to have more than one book or movie while on the go and is a space saver. Yes, there are going to be those that will die out but in the same time a new business can come to light in the digital age. I have moved many times in my life and have to say that I have never really been affected by the closing of these types of stores but it is because as people we are used to move along with the flow and get used to changes which can improve things. There are those that fight against an electronic book over a hard copy but with the new readers coming out they are really not as bad as it used to be. These stores should continue to fight for the competition and really try to upgrade in some sense. Just because they change some things around or have an addition to the shops does not mean that the whole premise of the store must change.
Being as old as I am, I have seen a lot of small stores go down. I remember when Home Depot first came to Fairbanks. I swore I would never go there. But eventually I did. Convenience and low prices are hard to beat.
I don’t think its right, what big corporations like Wal-Mart, do to small businesses. They can sell so cheap, because they buy off of the labor market in countries like China, where they work for such ridiculously low wages, it is more slavery than anything. I try to go to “mom n pop†stores. I really do. But you just can’t beat the one-stop convenience of Fred Meyers, with it’s large selection of organic foods.
But something like book stores is a different story. Sure, Barnes and Noble came in and wiped all the small book stores out, but now it’s the Barnes and Nobles that are closing because no one is buying books anymore. They are growing into more digital formats. What used to be 90% books, has whittled down to almost half. And it keeps shrinking. They have lots of games and toys now, and I imagine soon we’ll see clothing.
The products we buy are designed to meet a disposable lifestyle. Most things break so easily and it is usually cheaper to replace the whole thing, than to get it repaired. Stores have stopped carrying simple things, that might last longer, in lieu of cheap, disposable substitutes.
It is important to have stores that still care about quality and customer service. I prefer Gulliver’s Book Store over Barnes & Noble, because there is a chance I can find the book I want in the used section and save money and recycle a book. I will go to Samson’s Hardware when I need advice, because I know they are knowledgeable and always friendly and they sell good quality tools. It’s hit or miss at the big hardware stores and I don’t have to walk a mile to go from lumber to hardware.
I miss video rental stores. I feel like I am being pushed into this digital age. I have to buy cable or a movie service online if I want to watch something specific now. The digital age will eventually become more convenient, but right now, with so many new technologies, and so many options, it is rather a pain for me.
The disappearance of the “mom and pop” stores is a bad thing. In small towns, such as ours and the one I grew up in, it’s where you hear the latest news that isn’t in print. You can walk in and the people who work there know you and have known you since you were born or you moved to town. I have seen a few stores close and I miss them when they’re gone because the sense of community slowly goes with it as the bigger stores are just here for the profits. I like walking in to a place and everyone greeting me by name and asking how things are going. I like when the employees of those places notice a difference in how you’re looking these days and know what the reason may be. The bigger stores take the personalization out of our lives. The digital age gives people the opportunity to sit at home and do everything online, but the downfall is as they find the convenience of online, they lose the social skills they would have gained from having to interact with the outside world.