Going to actual brick and mortar stores. Why?

Some people enjoy shopping. I especially love going to clothing stores and finding bargains on the markdown racks, which has allowed me to always be well dressed on a budget. And, I prefer to buy clothing and shoes in person, where I can accurately judge the color, quality, and fit, since sizes vary wildly by brand.

I’m completely over dealing with online shit.

I like to try on my clothes and shoes.

So far everything i’ve bought online has been not just a shade off, but practically a whole other color! And it takes just as much time searching for certain things.

I think for supermarkets you just answered your own question. I'm going to order milk on-line and have it delivered but go and get bananas? No. No one does that (and if they do they are morons).

The only other think I am hesitant about are pants and shirts. Men's clothing can often be as "off" as women's, in that a 32 pant can sometimes be 30 and can sometimes be 36 (or more). Just easier to go try the pants on in store.

To fucking get out of the house? It *can* be fun going to stores, getting out (especially with a friend). It is tactile. I need something to touch and feel other than my keyboard. Are you a shut-in, OP? What is wrong with getting out, going to an actual store? Plus, it saves jobs.

One needs to try on clothes. How can one properly assess the feel and fit of lace undergarments online? One can’t. And the Belgian nuns who craft them by hand don’t have an online presence.

I'm an avid flasher and I find that online shopping does not provide me with the experiences I need to fully enjoy my hobby.

How else does one seduce bagboys?

Buying clothes online is too risky. I need to know the clothes fit well before I purchase them.

In the future I see B&M stores being more for the better off who can afford to get there and carry their parcels home. Online shopping WAS the cool way, but now that it is ubiquitous, that time has passed.

It will be the 600lb recluses and the poor who dont have transport who only have the option of online delivery. One only has to witness op and his self congratulatory rambling to see that online shopping is quickly becoming a lower class staple.

I love grocery shopping. Shopping for groceries just does not work for me. I have to search through a million pages wasting so much time. In the stores I could just quickly go down the aisles to find what I need. Plus I can discover new items.

^Shopping for groceries ONLINE just does not work for me.

I don't want to pay delivery charges. Also, there's so much porch theft in my neighborhood that I don't want to take that risk.

Going to brick and mortar stores keeps local people employed and adds to the local tax revenue. I read an article in the WSJ last year describing how retail pulled a small Northeastern city out of its economic tailspin after its manufacturing jobs went overseas, and now that retail Jobs are disappearing the community is worried it will face another economic tailspin.

I buy everything on Amazon EXCEPT groceries. I will not pay $299 a year for that. I tried it and it was too time consuming to fill up my cart. I have to click through hundreds of items to find anything I want. Plus the prices aren’t cheaper than just going to Safeway or Trader Joe’s.

I love grocery shopping in person and picking out my own vegetables and seeing what’s new. I despise clothes shopping in person, however.

I prefer to buy groceries and clothing in person but I'd like to transition all of my other shopping online. I just need to plan better. I'll run out of something and don't want to wait for it to ship, so I go to the store and buy everything else I'll need soon while I'm there.

Returning stuff through the mail is a hassle. Also, whenever possible, I prefer to examine some types of merchandise in person if I'm unfamiliar with it. I won't buy soap I've never smelled. Finally, with some stuff like clothes, I prefer to try on several sizes to see which one fits best - sometimes buying a bigger size and tailoring is better than buying the "right" size. For commodity or completely standard stuff, I'll buy online without thinking twice.

Also, while neuro-linguistic programming is a lot of hokum and voodoo, there is some science behind some of the precepts. For instance, people acquire and internalize information in different ways. You can often tell a lot about people by the clues they give when they speak. Have you ever noticed some people emphasize visual over other senses - "that doesn't look right" - while others will focus on sound or feeling - "I don't feel good about this" or "it doesn't sound right." As another example, some people care more about what a sofa looks like than how comfortable it is.

Online purchasing, unlike brick-and-mortar, relies primarily on visual input. However, some people cannot decide whether an iPad is right for them unless they hold it and fiddle with it, irrespective of the stated features and functionality. Many people need tactile input to internalize the data - they have to hold it in their hands.

I'm one of those "expiration date" types who HAS to have the freshest (farthest-out date) items.

Why should I buy the shit that's been sitting there for a week when I can have the freshly-received merch?

Those on-line grocery shopping employees just grab whatever items are in the front without checking dates.

This would drive me insane.

Many of my favorite purchases were things I didn't plan to buy but came across in a store. OP is probably one of those tiresome people who is booked up for the next three months.

I adore R11.

Dems are supposed to be for the working person and the economically disadvantaged. Shopping online means that stores will close, thereby losing jobs for those who need them. So, if you just shop online, you might as well vote for Trump.

R23 But, it is ok, because Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos and he is a big anti-Trump Democrat. Just forget about the fact that Amazon treats their warehouse workers worse than Walmart has ever imagined.

I'll never buy groceries online unless I'm recovering from some major illness. I like browsing, picking my own produce and expiration dates. Most other shopping is done online and I've slowly transitioned my clothes/shoe shopping to online also. I would prefer to buy clothes/shoes in person but the checkout experience is so off putting with all the questions and begging for surveys and store credit card pitch. If dept stores had self checkout (other than Target/Walmart), I would buy clothes/shoes in store.

Last winter I bought a coat online. I didn’t know my size in their brand so I followed their instructions. They said measure yourself and buy a coat size that goes with those measurements, so I did that.

The coat arrived and it was gigantic. Absolutely unwearable. The sleeves went past my fingers. I returned it and ordered one according to my pants size, since that was a size I thought that might go with their sizing. Nope. About 2-3 sizes too big. I returned that and ordered a size I thought was a size too small. By this time, over a month went by and I’m freezing my ass off the whole time.

A neighbor two doors down convinces UPS she would deliver it to me (this was right around the holidays by now) and she stole it. The manufacturer bills me for a coat that never shows up. Christmas passes. I called them up, UPS claims I received it. I said no. They said yes. Finally they admit they delivered down the street to a neighbor I don’t know. I filed a claim. Next day, neighbor sheepishly calls the HOA and claims they ”accidentally” received my coat in error. By this time, coat has been reported stolen and manufacturer sent out an identical one. Billed me for that one too. Has only credited me for one and billed me for all the others.

Neighbor is too embarrassed to meet me in person, so she left it outside her door for me to pick up. By this time, manufacturer is sending a nasty letter wondering why I won’t pay for coat #4. I had to call them and ask where is my credit for coat # 2 &3 which they already had received back weeks earlier. Had to call credit card company and manufacturer again to get them to re-bill me for the last coat because they couldn’t apply one of the other credits to the coat I finally received. They had to give me the credits, re-bill me for the coat #4 so the cc company would pay it, and I finally received all the credits back. In January. Good thing I could afford to have hundreds of dollars held on my credit card for a couple months, around Christmas.

By the time I finally got the coat, I got to wear it for maybe a month.

For the experience. To see the environment that the interior designers, lighting designers, have developed to create a mood. To touch, see, hear, and play with the samples. (The Best Buy home automation aisle looks like an arcade or casino!) To see all the latest merchandise. To be surprised by something clever that will make my life more fun or easy, but I would have never thought to look for it before I saw it. To see the different color options side by side. To have it RIGHT NOW.

If I ordered shit online the only time I would ever leave the house would be for work and Grindr hookups.

It's a means of social interaction. Even for those of us who aren't social butterflies, we still benefit from hearing "How are you? Let me know if you need any help" and "Are you finding everything OK?"

I absolutely can not go back to hiking to the grocery store and hauling all that shit to my condo after trying Instacart delivery.

I absolutely fucking love it.

The Wegmans in town would take me forever to get to with traffic, and it’s always slammed with fraus. Instacart brings me all my shit up to my condo door, and they pick out really fresh produce.

There’s a pretty good grocery store about 5 minutes away, but their produce is not great and the selection in the store is boring. I could technically order from them on Instacart, but fuck that.

I’ll never go back to regular grocery trips. It feels like a punishment now.

Have used Instacart Express for 2 years. Fucking love it.

R26, what a horrible experience. That's a good example of why shopping for clothes is mostly easier in person, unless you are repurchasing something that you already know fits.

The only exception I make is that I sometimes order clothes online from Nordstrom. I can easily make returns in person if something doesn't fit.

Now that you can return Amazon purchases to any Kohls. How long before Amazon announces they are buying them like they did Whole Foods?

R31, I have another whole story of ordering a Fiestaware item that was received loose in a box with the lid and bottom taped together and absolutely no packing between the two pieces. First one smashed into pieces inside the box, second one with fine scratches all over the lid from the two pieces grinding against each other in transit and absolutely no paper or anything between them. It took about three to get an undamaged one. I needed two. To make it worse, the day I received the broken one I got the flu, and they give you thirty days to bring it back. So I’m dragging them into the local store (that doesn’t stock it) and waiting in a long line with the flu. It took the first couple weeks before I could leave the house, so the whole time I’m thinking, I have to get out of bed and return this.

MARY!

You’re damn right, MARY!

Clothes and shoes I like trying on and touching. If I want it I don't want the whole hassle of ordering it, waiting, trying it on and then seeing it won't do, sending it back, maybe ordering something else that may not work out either. Brick and mortar lets me avoid that whole production.

Fiestaware is quietly present at all DL crime scenes and tragedies.

Coincidence?

Some of my favorite things (clothing items, home decor items, etc.) were happened upon by chance (usually at a TJ Maxx, Last Call, Barneys Warehouse, Marshalls, etc.). For example, I bought literally $8,000+ worth of Lalique crystal on clearance once at a Marshalls for about $450 (big, gorgeous vases). Unheard of - these pieces are barely discounted even when they are on sale (much less going for next to nothing). I recently bought a bunch of Thomas Pink dress shirts at TJ Maxx that were clearanced to $10 and $15 each and retail for $195 a piece. I was at a Last Call a few years back and bought a set of 8 Moser double old fashioned glasses that were marked down from $175 a glass to $20 each. I wasn't LOOKING for any of these items, but stumbled across them and love them. You can absolutely find amazing deals online as well - but why limit your options?

OP state your (real) age, please. I'm trying to figure out if you're young and stupid, or just plain lazy.

This is a weird thing to brag about.

R37 I think not. Accept no imitations or mauve.

I like going to book stores - not that there's many of them left- because I like to browse through a book before I buy it. I don't sit in a chair and read it the way that book stores allow.....frankly, I think that's why so many of them went bankrupt. Why buy a book when you can use the store as a library and just sit and read it there?

I browse through different chapters of a book and then I might see a few others that catch my eye.

I still use e-books for books that I can't get in print.

I also like to try on clothes and shoes before I pay money for them.

I rarely buy grocery online.

I shop for most of my clothes online however. I have it down to a science after years of doing it. A lot of retailers have free returns or you can return in a store. Menswear is so limited in the stores these days, because people aren't buying clothes as much. The selection online is so much better.

And there are just too many women clogging up menswear sections, buying for their husbands boyfriends etc. They usually have their kids or baby strollers blocking the aisles while they take forever making their selections.

If the boring on-line shopping trend continues, there will be no more store, no more malls, no people on the streets. Everyone will be at home waiting for their next FedEx delivery. Are people really that lazy or busy that they can't even bother going to the grocery store anymore?

I buy clothes at brick and mortar stores because fit is important. When I bought my (sole) fancy watch, I got it at an authorized dealer instead of online. And sometimes I'll buy books at Barnes and Noble if they have the one I'm looking to read next, as I'd rather be able to start reading it right away than save a buck or two from Amazon.

I have all the stores I need within a 5-10 minute walking distance so it's easier to just buy everything at the stores. If I am going to buy anything out of the ordinary I prefer to do the research online before I go to the actual store. I like to know what I should be looking for and focus on that, rather than going through a lot of stuff and feel overwhelmed. I have noticed that a lot of stores don't carry the same items as their online stores do, so lately I have often returned home empty handed, only to go online and order it there.

[quote]Instacart brings me all my shit up to my condo door, and they pick out really fresh produce.

I had a huge problem with WFM getting things to my actual apartment door. There's a back door parking area-slash-intercom entrance. You can ring me up and I'll buzz you in. Or you can call on the phone and I'll come down and get you. But at least three WFM couldn't read the instructions. One actually left my stuff at the back door while it was snowing out.

I can imagine being the driver and getting pissy about some queen INSISTING that I bring the groceries TO HER DOOR in the middle of a snowstorm, but hey, we've all had jobs we hated.

I gave up on it before winter was over. I hardly go to WFM for anything now unless this one particular friend calls me up and wants to go together.

"For the experience. To see the environment that the interior designers, lighting designers, have developed to create a mood. To touch, see, hear, and play with the samples. (The Best Buy home automation aisle looks like an arcade or casino!) To see all the latest merchandise. To see the different color options side by side. To have it RIGHT NOW."

I believe this post is from 1972, or maybe '73. I'm not quite sure...

Desolate cities with boarded up storefronts. Sidewalks with no pedestrians. Streets full of mostly delivery vehicles. People who don't leave their houses for months at a time.

Both are important. But human beings in your town and mine need jobs, OP. We have a duty to support each other in our communities.

Besides, what is the fun of being online all the time? Get out and see your surroundings, talk to other people. It is the healthy thing to do.

R50 is posting from 1955.

[quote]Besides, what is the fun of being online all the time? Get out and see your surroundings, talk to other people. It is the healthy thing to do.

What you say should be correct. Unfortunately, every time I go outside, what I run into are EVERYONE, and they have ALL brought online outside with them, and insist upon blaring it with their little handheld devices. EVERYONE has to hear EVERYONE ELSE's noise now. I don't want to, so I stay home as much as possible.

How I wish what you are saying were true. I can't even stand eating a sandwich in the cafe in my local supermarket. EVERYONE goes there to play all their digital noise for EVERYONE ELSE. People are such trash.

I shop mainly online, for groceries I have a list of weekly regulars to which I add stuff depending on what I fancy cooking, so it is usually 20 minutes max each week. For clothes I usually go with the brands I know, so I know the sizing and of in doubt I order more that 1 size (most returns are free).

There are some items I usually buy in B&M though - books, since I like browsing, perfumes or no sports shoes. I also like charity shops and searching for a good find there.

Are people really becoming such recluses that setting foot outside the house now makes one a freak of nature and worthy of judgment and contempt? Well, that is what the stores are there for (the few that are still hanging on anyways). Pretty soon the whole world will look like one of those old Wild West movies; one big ghost town with empty, boarded up buildings. But then again, if you never have a reason to leave the house then how will you know what the outside world looks like anyway, right?

Personally, I only buy online when it is something that can't be found in stores.

I am increasingly shopping online for stuff that can't fuck up but as said, you like to see the fabric, try the fit etc. Returning it is a hassle too.

As someone up thread posted, whether you shop online or at a B&M store says a lot about the type of person that you are. If you see consumer goods as simply fulfilling a need, online shopping is fine. If you see consumer goods as something more, then online shopping will never work for you.

Some things I cannot understand buying online. Yarn is a good example. If one is at all serious about knitting, one has to see and feel the yarn. If you just want clothing to cover your body, online shopping is fine. If you actually care about the color, texture, drape, and fit of your clothing online shopping is nearly impossible.

Funny, but this argument reminds me of East Germany. The early party members just could not understand consumer habits. Being entirely men, the could not understand why one black shoe option and one brown shoe wasn't enough. The fact that women wanted shoes in a specific color, heel height, material, toe, etc. made their head explode. They brought a women in to help solve the problem. She lasted a year. Interestingly, East Germany also relied heavily on catalog sales- primitive online shopping.

Going to actual brick and mortar stores. Why?

Because I can and I'm beautiful.

PS. dairy, fresh fruit, Asian noodle, etc. need to be bought at the shops.

What difference does it make to the OP how other people shop? You shop online? Cool. You'd rather go to a store? That's great. It's your money. Spend it when and where you want as long as it's legal.

[quote]PS. dairy, fresh fruit, Asian noodle, etc. need to be bought at the shops.

I've never had a problem with dairy, but the first time Whole Foods delivered, they brought me a bunch of celery I would never have picked myself. I called them and had them take it off the bill. I only buy Italian noodles (box pasta), and they arrive with no damage.

[quote]Being entirely men, the could not understand why one black shoe option and one brown shoe wasn't enough. The fact that women wanted shoes in a specific color, heel height, material, toe, etc. made their head explode.

When I was a child (1960s), you had a choice of no more than ten types of glasses frames. But you could order them so they fit your eyes and your head perfectly. Now we have a thousand design choices, some of which may fit. I end up usually choosing a version of my seventh grade frame. I'd love it if they fit perfectly.

Would you mind your own fucking business and let me spend my money in peace? Damn. There sure are a lot of nosy, judgmental bastards in the world.

[quote]One needs to try on clothes.

Dost one?

[quote]If you actually care about the color, texture, drape, and fit of your clothing online shopping is nearly impossible.

[quote]Being entirely men, the could not understand why one black shoe option and one brown shoe wasn't enough. The fact that women wanted shoes in a specific color, heel height, material, toe, etc. made their head explode.

These are very true points. But times have changed! Women have a much larger selection of clothing in stores than men do, and their clothes are priced much cheaper because retailers know they buy more clothes. Id love to walk into stores and find things I'd actually like to try on, but more often now find very few things I like or nothing at all. So I must go to the internet.

And to be honest, I have been here long enough to know that DLers like nicely fit clothes, but a lot of you wear boring dad clothes. Those type clothes are easier to shop for in a B&M stores, so of course you will not need a huge selection like you have on the internet.

Always, I hate looking for shit online and hoping it’s what I need, and then having to return it because it isn’t.

I buy clothes online but only from 4-5 stores that I’ve been using for years. I know what fits me and read the reviews. I’ve rarely had to return anything but they can be returned in the store so it’s not too bad. They never have the size and color I want in the store. I go to TJ Maxx or Marshalls sometimes but it’s hit or miss.

I mostly do grocery shopping in person, it’s convenient. I’m single, don’t cook and live in Brooklyn. The market is next to the subway, I have to pass it on the way home so I pop in to get what I need a couple times a week.

Everything else I get online, usually from Amazon. It’s great for bulky items like cat litter and housewares.

It's fun shopping - and working! - at GAP!

[quote]I need something to touch and feel other than my keyboard.

Call me!

Why would shopping online turn anyone into a recluse? I love shopping online and I’m out of the house often.

I work 5 days a week, go out to dinner and/or drinks at least twice a week (more in summer). I go to the gym, the park, vacations, movies, etc.

Something is wrong if shopping is your only source of fun and human contact.

"Pretty soon the whole world will look like one of those old Wild West movies; one big ghost town with empty, boarded up buildings. But then again, if you never have a reason to leave the house then how will you know what the outside world looks like anyway, right?"

Prone to exaggeration much...???

"The sky is falling!! The sky is falling!!"

Calm down, gramps. Everything is going to be okay.

Dealing with deliveries is a nightmare. USPS loses things or drops them off at the wrong address. Or it gets the package wet.

UPS has an online tracking service that ALMOST tells you something about your package. Eventually you have to wait for UPS to reveal at which local business it dropped off your package, forcing you into a brick and mortar store, anyway.

When the item is not as ordered, it's a hassle and an expense to return it. It's a hassle and expense to keep it, too.

Give me brick and mortar stores, fully loaded with inventory.

I use UPS My Choice premium. I can schedule my deliveries for when I'm at home. Jealous bitches?

FedEx is the worst!!

People who like shopping online are richy richsters who have door attendants who take delivers when hostess is out and about.

Recently a thief got into my building's lobby, slit open all the packages, took what they wanted, and left all the boxes and packaging behind.

I hate sending things back, especially when there's a charge to do so.

So many people here prefer buying clothes in person yet clothing retailers, especially department stores, are tanking.

I wish clothing manufacturing were brought back to the US, even if it meant paying more, if it was high quality. American Apparel tried to do this but failed and is on life support. Lots of drama with CEO Dov Charney.

Even at the stores which do exist (which get fewer and fewer) technology is phasing out the humans anyway. It seems like every time I go there are less cashier lines open because everybody uses the self checkouts machines. It doesn't matter whether you go online or in the store. Robots are going to take over either way. All I can say is they better figure out a new system besides capitalism. It won't stop with shopping. It'll spread. How long will it be before robots are our teachers, doctors, and surgeons? There won't be a human job in the world they can't replace.

Once people got too damn lazy to turn a light switch on and off or to adjust their thermostat and got Alexa to do it I knew there was no hope. It only goes down from here.

R75, Mary!

I recently went to a store to buy a new suit for work. I wanted to buy in person to ensure the fit and color would be what I wanted.

The people working there actively ignored me as they tidied things. It was unreal. I had to go to the cashier to ask for help and thought "THIS is why retail is failing."

If retailers trained their employees how to be friendly and actually helpful maybe things would be different.

What R75 said. Last fall, I was in the local Macy's store and looking at fine china. I saw a large touch screen displayed where you signed up for Macy's Bridal Registry. Fuck no!

If I was throwing that much potential business to Macy's, I would want my ass well and truly kissed. I would want a middle aged matron in a suit kissing my butt at a French Provincial desk and serving me tea and cookies.

A touch screen? NO! We can't allow it to be that easy for these corporate bastards.

I work odd hours so when i got to stores like Big Lots and Walmart they're sparsely filled. On the rare occasion I have to go during peak hours it always bothers me that they are so jam-packed with breeders.

I work from home and I get cabin fever a lot. Getting out of the house and doing things outside is just so nice. I get to dress up in a nice shirt and jeans and go out and run errands and talk to people.

Human interaction is important. Online shopping is convenient and sometimes cheaper, but it will never replace interacting with people and that feeling of getting outside.

Like others, I enjoy getting out of the house and having some interaction. I always shop at a brick and mortar store for suits, and I prefer to try things on before buying. There are some brands, though, that I know fit me perfectly, so I can buy those online.

But shopping online has its annoyances. I bought a shirt from Macy's that was not even close the color that was displayed online. I returned it and used the return label that a customer service representative sent to me. Well, supposedly that label returned the shirt to the wrong address. I had to call Macy's six times to get it straightened out, and it took a little over two months. I'll never buy anything from them again. I had to escalate it to a manager before I got someone with half a brain to understand all they had to do was get the package from that wrong address, and since it was Macy's screw up in the first place, I didn't need to wait for them to get it at whatever central location returns were supposed to go to before I got my refund. And even after all that, it still took ten days to get my refund from when I spoke to the manager. Ridiculous.

[quote] EVERYONE has to hear EVERYONE ELSE's noise now.

Is this true though? I feel like things are actually much more quiet, with people talking less and becoming phone drones.

I would never buy groceries online -- I wouldn't trust that someone else would pick the right produce or cut of meat. Re: clothes and shoes, I wanna try it on first.

[quote]I had to escalate it to a manager

Part of the problem with large B&M retail is that the people who run the stores are completely disconnected from the stores. This is intentional. Prior to 1980, it was not unusual for the top executives of a department store to be on the floor regularly, often the actually worked during the Christmas season. After 1980, there was a 180. Corporate offices were moves as far away from stores as possible so executives would not be influenced by actual store activity. It was all about number, not people. (There was a rather famous example where a store's Mother's Day ad was bicycles, because the bicycle department hit the right sales numbers.)

Also, shareholders have far too much say in how the stores are run. The JC Penny fiasco is a perfect example. The guy from Apple was brought in to do a certain job. Everyone freaked out at first quarter results and scrapped the plan before it really got started. There should have been at least a one year hands-off period to let the guy actually do what he was brought in to do. Not retail, but a another example is Jet Blue. The shareholders ordered the company to cut back on their (excellent) customer service because it did not generate profit for shareholders.

Many stores, Bed, Bath, & Beyond in particular, only have stores as social engineering to get consumers to shop on line. The stores are intentionally under-stocked so that the consumer has to order online. They will order online for you at the store, but the intent is for the consumer to eventually think that they might as well order online themselves.

I absolutely abhor going shopping and rarely buy anything that I absolutely need to see in person. Buying groceries online and going to pick them up has been fine but only because I live in a smallish city and the store I go to knows me as a regular, and also because much of their best meat and produce is individually packaged in their "Private Selection" store brand. If you buy Private Selection tomatoes or salmon or what have you, you'll get the good stuff.

[quote]If you buy Private Selection tomatoes or salmon or what have you, you'll get the good stuff.

Sucker!

[quote]I had to call Macy's six times to get it straightened out, and it took a little over two months. I'll never buy anything from them again.

There are a few online retailers who are absolutely the pits, and Macy's is one. K-Mart back when it was still around also managed to change my credit card purchase into a Western Union cablegram purchase and that took a month to straighten out. I bought some earrings for my mom from Guess online and they showed up broken, and when I returned them they refused to refund me for "sanitary" reasons. Had to get my credit card company involved.

And Bed Bath & Beyond can't pack their items worth shit. Twice I ordered towels, and twice they were sent in packages which had been opened and resealed with tape that was placed directly on top of the towels themselves.

Book stores like Barnes & Noble are holding on for dear life. Why on earth dont they schedule events to get people in their stores: book signings and book clubs and author events; kids authors for children; even wine or coffee tastings. Something interesting to get people IN the store to experience something and buy stuff!!!

I'm absolutely a sucker, R86, but they don't have decent produce or meat anymore unless it's branded. They're the cheapest place in town even though you have to buy Private Selection tomatoes and Melissa's shallots and Simple Truth chicken.

Glad you took it the way I intended, r89.

Glad you have a sense of humor, too.

*Smiles at you*

I just spent $1400 on a television. There's no way I would spend that much on a television without first checking it out in a store.

Even if I went to a store and looked at their floor model I still wouldn't order it online.

Any electronic device (even a Blu-ray player) can be very easily damaged in the shipping.

I like brick and mortar stores because I like seeing what is available and having an actual experience. I'm not going to know what the hell new TVs offer me, what new clothes are out, what new appliances or gizmos are hitting the showroom floor...

Buying online is a shot in the dark. It actually minimizes my purchasing power and doesn't increase it in any meaningful way. Stores even will often price match online prices anyway. My husband wanted good snow boots, so when we were visiting the in-laws in Michigan, we went to Dick's Sporting Good, had him try some Sorels, and he loved them.

He didn't want to buy them! He was like "Oh, I'll just buy them on Amazon later." What the fuck? Why not get them TODAY and have them NOW rather than have them shipped to us later in Chicago and have to pick them up at an Amazon or UPS store (package theft is real, guys)? I convinced him to buy at the register and they price matched Amazon anyway (it was like a $30 difference).

And I'm in my mid-30s and not an eldergay. I stick to online shopping like Amazon or eBay for special products I cannot find in-store.

get out of your house you reject!

I need my ass truly kissed

I work part-time in one of those B&M clothing stores. Our parent company is flailing right now but our brand is okay and the particular store I work at is going strong. About 80% of our returns are online orders.

Instacart Kween here.

My condo door is a pain in the ass to get to. The parking is a bitch, the buzzer is in an odd place, etc.

The Amazon Prime Now guy outright *refused* to bring my groceries past the lobby. I was furious! I went and got them myself, but Customer Service got a very unhappy call from me. I hope that driver was canned, because he was a rude cunt.

Instacart drivers, on the other hand, have never once given me shit about the hike to my door. It’s delightful. I tip well (on the app). Can’t understand why anyone needs to pick his own produce or dairy. It all comes fresh from Wegmans.

I especially love it for getting large orders at the holidays, when I’m entertaining my bitch-ass family, most of whom don’t lift a finger to do shit.

*or from whatever store you order

Anybody with a brain has noticed that Amazon has jacked up the prices of all its stuff. Anything I could buy on Amazon I can get elsewhere for considerably less. One example: The Finish version of your dishwasher detergent is available locally for about 20% less than on Amazon. The Cascade pellet is about 15% less in stores here.

Amazon is supposed to be less expensive because Bezos uses slave labor and has no retail stores. But it's not really working out that way. There's the $12.99 for Prime, and if you want grocery delivery, another $14.99 for Amazon Fresh (still not available in many parts of the US). That's an insane $336 a year (plus tax in most locations) for the privilege of buying overpriced groceries from Amazon. Anybody with a real life and job is going to balk at such pricing.

Bezos is trying unsuccessfully to get us to ignore item pricing by having us click icons. Others complain that pricing on Amazon goes up and down several times a day, and changes depending if you're logged in to Amazon or not.

Grocery delivery and pick-up is still a clusterfuck in most places, OP. People complain about missing items, missing orders, substituted items, and items chosen for them by idiots, and too-long waits to pick up their orders. They don't put up with that shit for long.

Clothing is impossible. Inaccurate sizing and outright misrepresentation of fit and color mean you will have to use FedEx as your changing room, tedious to the extreme. How do you know the size of those Nike shoes, OP? You had to try them on somehow, to check the fit. I have shoes in 4 sizes in my closet but my feet are always the same.

There's a lot to be said for seeing what you get before buying it.

R95, 80%?? Holy shit

R96, thank GOD I’ve never met you, you sound horrendous.

R87 K-Mart is still around, they still have around 200 B&M locations and you can order from their online store.

I only buy online things that I’m too embarrassed to buy in person like PrEP, lube, or sex toys. Plus it’s much more convenient to try things on in the comfort of your own home instead of at the store. I recently ordered three sizes of dildos. One was too small, one was too large, and one was just right. I felt like Goldilocks.👩🏼‍🦱

You returned two used dildos r102

I’m too embarrassed to shop

The one thing I hate about brick and mortar stores is that some have turned into massively big stores that are too hard to shop.

I tried out this grocery superstore for the first time to pick up one item I couldn't find anywhere else. It was a terrible experience because the store was so large, it was difficult to find what I was looking for. You really needed a map or GPS to find anything. I couldn't imagine actually doing my weekly grocery shopping there because it was take 3 times as long as when I go to my regular store.

Sure, it's great to have a store that has a big selection but they need to figure out a way to make it easier to navigate.

You need to live in a more reasonable place.

[quote]East Germany also relied heavily on catalog sales- primitive online shopping.

Tech-infatuated people refuse to notice that they're moving backward, not forward, by ordering things based on pictures and then waiting for them to be delivered.

[quote]One example: The Finish version of your dishwasher detergent is available locally for about 20% less than on Amazon.

Actually, I'm getting Finish through Amazon's subscription service and it's a fraction of the cost. I can only get the 20-count at the grocery, making it pretty expensive, and the large 82-count that I get is $3 less on Amazon than Walmart. Also our protein is much cheaper through Amazon. We're saving $30 a month on those things alone.

That said, Amazon is VERY expensive on other items. They're rarely the best deal on stuff.

Amazon has been an "umbrella" for thousands of other retailers for a very long time. Rarely are they the best price on anything - although at times they certainly can be. Just be shrewd and you will do fine when utilizing and buying their online wares. The reality of the current shipping market is that personal sellers (Ebay or Etsy part-timers) and mom-and-pop stores can't ink the shipping deals via UPS, FedEx, USPS etc. that the large volume retailers can. Shipping is pricier than ever for the every-man but dirt cheap for the big outfits and this makes online sales a possibility for the larger retailers yet impossible to compete with for the smaller ones. What is my point? B&M stores can still be competitive if they try hard enough. The world has not yet gone completely virtual. I shop online plenty and also patron actual stores. The mix works just fine for me.

[quote]B&M stores can still be competitive if they try hard enough.

Not if customers won't put down their devices and get off their asses long enough to go shopping.

[quote]Is this true though? I feel like things are actually much more quiet, with people talking less and becoming phone drones.

Mostly on speakerphone where I live. I'm so fucking sick of everyone's digital noise.

[quote]The Amazon Prime Now guy outright *refused* to bring my groceries past the lobby. I was furious! I went and got them myself, but Customer Service got a very unhappy call from me. I hope that driver was canned, because he was a rude cunt.

R96, this is exactly what happened to me at least twice with Prime Now. Unfortunately, there's no Wegmans where I live, and the only store I'd want to order from doesn't use Instacart.

Brick and mortar only. i like things knowing they fit.

R112 are you incapacitated and bedridden?

In the winter, r114, I am incapacitated a bit when it comes to schlepping home cases of sparkling water on the bus, yes. I don't drive, and if I fall and break something, well, that would suck. And I'm not talking about breaking bottles.

I actually stopped buying bottled water, though. Neither schlepping it home myself nor getting someone else to do it has paid off. Plus, the amount of trash it engenders is not incondsiderable.

Inconsiderable. Almost like inconsiderate. Like you.

Sorry, but people who make no effort to leave the house and patronize stores when they are perfectly able are the reason this thread has to exist.

If you truly can't get out to shop, that's another matter. What did you do before there was Amazon?

I'm not sure if r116 is supposed to be a direct response to r115 or not, but in case it is, r116, I [italic]have[/italic] returned to going grocery shopping on my own. I don't enjoy it much, however, and I'm someone who never minded going shopping.

Partly it is because of being somewhat incapacitated. I now have arthritis and lumbar stenosis, which make getting around painlessly more difficult than it once was. But equally annoying are the people I encounter while shopping. I used to like to get something to eat before or after doing my actual shopping, but I find having to sit in one of the cafes and listen to other people listening to their speakerphones profoundly annoying, and I am not going to apologize to you or anyone else for hating that aspect of modern living.

I buy 95% of my stuff online. AmazonFresh included. It's changed my life for the better. No more wasting time driving places and hauling stuff. Started volunteering since it's freed up a ton of time on weekends. Got rid of my car even. Lyft and Uber now.

You must be a rich girl, r118.

Hell no, R119. I'm saving money not having a car etc.

I'm DONE with online shopping. At first I thought it was the coolest thing ever but it ended up being a hassle. The disparity between the pic online and the actual item, having to track the package so it wont get lost/stolen and then the inevitable return is too fucking much.

I just go to the store and get exactly what I need right there and then. Easy Peasy

R121 people will refuse to acknowledge this until it happens to them more than once.

[quote]i like things knowing they fit.

How does a shirt know if it fits you or not? Or even care if it does? That shirt is just grateful it’s not still on a rack somewhere.

it is always interesting to me how these threads devolve into two opposing teams. The reality is far less simple.

I rarely shop online for the numerous reasons stated. I also rarely shop in brick and mortar stores for the reasons stated, except for groceries. During most of the year, I shop either at the LL Bean outlet store or a local dry goods store for jeans, underwear, etc. Retail in the USA is so bad that I go to Europe once a year for shopping. That is where I buy my better clothing, table linens, dinnerware, rugs, wallets, etc.

Amazon is using the Barnes and Nobel model. Start out cheap until you have killed the competition and then jack up your prices (Barnes and Nobel, how does it feel to be on the receiving end of that?) B&M stores are going out of their way to make the shopping experience horrible. Aside from the family owned dry goods store that I use , "good" B&M stores tend to be cutesy boutiques for women that have nothing that I want... or a gun store.

It depends on need. I’ll visit a store if I want something that day. Generally, I’ll use order up, so I’m not waiting in long checkout lines. I also use stores for tactile research on clothes, shoes, electronics, etc. Once I know the shirt, jeans, sneakers fit, or a gadget is back in stock, I’ll order it on the store’s app. A lot of stores have quick delivery now. So, if I can wait a couple days, ordering online is the best option.

I can't imagine going shopping online, when you can go to Phipps

I've bought groceries online a few times. It's a hit or miss. Someone is picking out the produce...sometimes it's good, then the quality can be bad other times. It might be good during the winter, for example, when there's snow and ice on the roads.. and you don't want to drive. I don't enjoy food shopping, but it's better to go in person, for controlling what you buy.

... someone *else is picking out the produce^^

I go to brick and mortar stores to try on and buy clothes. Unfortunately, it seems B&M stores are carrying less and less stock. So when I find something I like, they usually don’t have my size. The salesclerk then offers to order my size from another store or the manufacturer. But then I have to go back to the store, try it on and, if it doesn’t look good, I’ve wasted two trips.

Lately, I’ve been looking online for clothing brands that generally fit me and buy clothes that way.

According to Bloomberg, today, Gen Z is going to save brick and mortar stores and the mall in particular.

I miss the mall. The magic is gone.

Pier One might next to go bankrupt. They’re closing 145 stores. They carry nothing but frau junk anyway.

I’m still here, r131.

R107, I know, might as well be 1919 and ordering from the sears and Roebuck catalogue

" 1. Anything I could buy on Amazon I can get elsewhere for considerably less. One example: The Finish version of your dishwasher detergent is available locally for about 20% less than on Amazon. The Cascade pellet is about 15% less in stores here.

2. There's the $12.99 for Prime, and if you want grocery delivery, another $14.99 for Amazon Fresh (still not available in many parts of the US). That's an insane $336 a year (plus tax in most locations) for the privilege of buying overpriced groceries from Amazon. Anybody with a real life and job is going to balk at such pricing.

3. Bezos is trying unsuccessfully to get us to ignore item pricing by having us click icons.

4. Grocery delivery and pick-up is still a clusterfuck in most places...

5. Clothing is impossible. Inaccurate sizing and outright misrepresentation of fit and color mean you will have to use FedEx as your changing room, tedious to the extreme."

1. Are you comparing items from Amazon itself or items from a third-party seller selling through Amazon?

2. "Balk" at the pricing? I guess this explains why they keep ADDING new customers.

3. Yes, yes, yes...it's a deep plot executed by Bezos to take over the world, but YOU have it all figured out. Congratulations.

4. Exactly how many "places" have you tried to verify this "claim" of yours?

5. Because you've shopped at EVERY SINGLE ONLINE CLOTHING RETAILER in the world, so you KNOW this is true.

You are really a tiring and useless person...

The selection is always better in the stores.

Yes, I once ordered a fucking tshirt on amazon, they must be a made to order place, they sent my order to china and when I received it, it was 6 weeks late and the graphic tshirt looked NOTHING like the picture, since it was only 20 bucks, I just used it as a rag. I didn't even bother to send it back.

I prefer shopping in person. I would buy online if it was the item I wanted (and know how it fits etc) went on sale.

R136 Not always, but if I have to order online, I go to a store first to check out the merchandise then order it, especially clothing. There was a shirt I really liked in the store, for a Christmas party but they didn't have my size, so I tried on another color, by the same brand to make sure it would fit, before ordering it in the color I wanted.

I wore Nike sneakers forever. 2 weeks ago, they had a sale online, I ordered 3 pairs. When they came, I was shocked they were so small, I compared my size 11 and the new shoe, there was a big difference. So now I gotta send the fucking shit back. Best to go to the store and try on and buy it on the spot.

R139 I've had the opposite problem, but I don't wear Nike. I wore the same size New Balance for years, so I thought it would be safe to order them online, when they arrived they were supposedly the same size, but were way too big. Thankfully, I ordered them from a store that has B&M locations, I took them back and had to get a size and half smaller. My feet haven't gotten smaller, my old shoes still fit perfectly, but for some reason NB changed their sizes.

No R135 you have no prowess, only shit on your shoes and the wizened hands of a Bellagio maid who can't bother herself to wear gloves while she scrubs strangers' toilets.

R139/R140 - I have noticed that pretty much every shoe manufacturer has difficulty maintaining a consistent sizing throughout every style that they offer. This is very evident with Nike but also with higher end Gucci and Zegna. I used to order shoes online, but have learned the hard way to try on every pair of shoes in person. Even at Marshalls - I physically try on the shoes before buying. Sometimes I am an 11.5 (my size), sometimes I need a 12, and sometimes I fit best in an 11. For Italian shoes, I can be a 45, 45.5, 46, etc. You really have to find out in person and walk a few steps to be sure. Feet are more than just a measurement of length - comfort of the toes and rub in the heal/achilles make a huge difference as well.

I love shopping. Time means nothing when I’m in a store.

R132 - when I started college, Pier One seemed like the height of style to most of us (our parents likely had far more expensive furnishings but we had no appreciation for that of course). By the time I entered grad school, I found the Pier One junk to be just that... junk. I don't find that the company's appeal is very lasting for many customers. Pier One and Ikea are really geared towards kids IMO. Pottery Barn is more expensive but not all that different.

Totally agree with OP. Recuperating from surgery, I had to use online shopping. Only major downside is disposing of boxes.

[quote]Shopping online means that stores will close, thereby losing jobs for those who need them. So, if you just shop online, you might as well vote for Trump.

[quote]But, it is ok, because Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos and he is a big anti-Trump Democrat. Just forget about the fact that Amazon treats their warehouse workers worse than Walmart has ever imagined.

Worth repeating.

[quote]Desolate cities with boarded up storefronts. Sidewalks with no pedestrians. Streets full of mostly delivery vehicles. People who don't leave their houses for months at a time.

The blight that failed retail districts leave behind is impossible to recover from; jobs suffer, and the blight extends to nearby residential areas.

Amazon is also owned by institutional investors like Vanguard.

We're all making money from Amazon's succuss.

Who's this "we" you're talking about?

The tide will turn on Amazon soon enough.

R149, are you foreign? "We" means all Americans with money in almost any major tech fund At Vanguard, Fidelity, et al, or retirement savings with institutional investors.

That's like almost every adult in America.

Oh boy

R151 it is not, "like, almost every adult in America", but I'm certain that the view from inside your insulated bubble presents that particular view.

I just got a package that I ordered from Walmart that was missing an item, what a nuisance.... They sent one of my packages to someone else in another state before too but luckily that person returned the stuff to Walmart and I got refunded. Target sent me someone's order that wasn't mine too. If I order canned stuff some cans will always be dented, items will be leaking, busted open, smushed etc. I live in Minnesota and stuff comes frozen into ice during very cold weather. Frozen bottle of Windex, frozen Duke's mayonnaise that I had to toss out.

They always break up orders into multiple packages. I have received one single can of $1.29 soup delicately wrapped in 10 feet of brown paper and shipped in a medium sized box. I often receive single cheap items out of an order that are individually shipped for some reason. They definitely lose money that way, I wonder why they do that. I just laugh when I open a big box with shitloads of packaging for 1 cheap item. The boxes are massive and filled with massive amounts of packing material. It's almost embarrassing to be to throwing out all online order packing trash. I wish I had a fireplace, I would burn it.

[quote]Retail in the USA is so bad that I go to Europe once a year for shopping. That is where I buy my better clothing, table linens, dinnerware, rugs, wallets, etc.

MARY!

R155, I will take that as a compliment.

Recycle it, r154, jeez.

I just put out a huge box filled with other boxes for the recycling today, it's not much work and it somewhat lessens the impact of online shopping.

Even recycling these overly enormous boxes makes an impression, r157.

Haven't made through all the posts—has anyone mentioned the increasing cost of shipping? For two of my recent online purchases shipping added about 50% of the price! Yes, they were small purchases (no more than $30 each), but you can't always accumulate lots of items in the same purchase).

I agree that buying food and clothes online is very iffy—there's too much you can never know from the image and the information the site gives, and if it turns out unacceptable there's the expense of time in returning the item. I'd even add books, although I do buy a lot of books online; you can't always get a good sense of the content form the "look inside" feature, let alone non-literary qualities like the quality of the binding or the paper, which matter. Secondhand books likewise.

To me buying online is best for replacements of things you already know everything about, like if a remote breaks or a dish breaks and you can match the information exactly. Even then there's the risk that the package will be misdelivered or break or whatever.

R159, Shipping is calculated on weight, size and distance. *It has nothing to do with the cost of the item.* Over simplified, but, excluding insurance, it is cheaper to send a $15,000.00 diamond ring, than a $30.00 doorstop.

Unfortunately, this is a problem that catalog houses have created. Either they offer free shipping or they offer shipping based on cost. In the second case, the buyer of a small $100.00 item is actually paying the shipping for the person with a heavy $10.00 item (Or, the person with a $100.00 item who lives 5 miles away is paying the shipping on the $10.00 item to the buyer 2,000 miles away.) This gives the consumer highly unrealistic notions of shipping costs.

There is nothing unrealistic about it at all. If we follow R160's logic, a vast number of useful objects would be rendered unsaleable due to size or weight.

A method is required to surmount that obstacle.

[quote] Going to actual brick and mortar stores. Why?

Because I'm not a lazy sow?

Or a misanthrope?

R161, Such as what? And FYI, in many countries, anything other than actual shipping costs is illegal and they do just fine.

Gross waste

I just visited Water Tower Place on the Mag Mile in Chicago last night. Just a few years ago, it was a touristy destination where people went to shop and eat.

Now it's markedly blighted. Water fountains off and lights dimmed to "conserve energy". Most dining options closed for dinner.

There was also an obvious police presence both outside and inside because teens were repeatedly creating chaos on the subway and Water Tower Place resulting in arrests. Depressing.

If B&M on the Mag Mile cant make it, what about everybody else? Wow...

I'm not sure what it is in my post you think you're responding to, R160. I didn't tie the shipping charge to the cost of the item; I said the shipping charge was high in proportion to the cost of the item. In any case one of the purchases was a couple of fleece headbands that can't weigh more than a few ounces, and the other was a single book (whatever happened to book rate?).

R154 I hear you on missing items in online orders!

This year I tried online shopping for holiday gifts and 25% of my packages were effed up, either missing an item or received wrong item! Sending the items back, paying for return shipping, and all the phone calls it took to sort it out ... huge pain in the arse!

It's Chicago, R165. No one goes there because no one wants to be shot.

After all the extreme gun violence in Chicago, things are going to suffer.

Troll, I just spent two weeks in Chicago and it was nothing violent at all

I like to see and feel the things. I also pay cash for everything because it’s really easy to click and click and get in over your head.

I have a friend who is addicted to online shopping. And getting online groceries delivered. Judging from the size of her ass, it wouldn’t kill her to walk to the shops and carry a few bags up a flight of stairs. She is ALWAYS talking about some new food delivery app or some thing she bought online.

R165 Water Tower Place is suffering because it's a lot of shit that's elsewhere in downtown Chicago.

And yes, it gets overrun by teenage thugs looking to rob people - as many malls are these days. Better to have open air shopping.

No one is going to Mag Mile to eat when you have the trendy West Loop and Wicker Park areas, which are the new dining hot spots.

R168 Just 3 blocks away in downtown Chicago on Mag Mile, the Shops at North Bridge mall is doing fine and has one of the few department stores left, Nordstrom. It's complicated.

R171 Exactly. It was just so different since the last time I was there. They even had a cheesy, random pop up for a Tarot card reader. Wtf?

Complicated? Perhaps, R172. But it's just the Midwest, so it doesn't really matter much.

Is this Water Tower Place where Marshall Field used to be?

it is

The Water Tower sucking isn't really proving the point about brick and mortar being awful, though.

It just means that many people want to shop or eat at new and trendy places, and not necessarily go to something just because it's been there forever. Water Tower is actually pretty inconvenient to get to from most places in the city, unless you are on the red line or in Streeterville.

I eat, I shop, I'm never going to amazon

Now the cunts at Amazon are gonna deliver via drones, they're trying to put UPS out of business. I hate drones. we do not need this!!! Fuck Jeff Bezos and his fucked up eye.

Why are people traveling to the Amazon to shop? That would be terribly inconvenient. And the ice cream will be melted loooong before you get home.

R174 Did you write that from your French Provincial desk while mulling over fine china patterns?

Amazon will not use drones to do deliveries. Too expensive and slow, and prone to misadventure. Any press you see about drone deliveries is marketing propaganda.