10 Brands That May Disappear in 2011

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CaoPi

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I never even heard of some of these but blockbuster and radioshack are the more popular ones

from YH news http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110018/10-brands-that-may-disappear-in-2011

Reader's Digest
Blockbuster
- was the national leader in the video rental business for nearly two decades. Now it is contemplating Chapter 11 to eliminate debt. The company lost $65 million last quarter. Its revenue continues to fall rapidly as firms such as Redbox and NetFlix (Nasdaq: NFLX - News) siphon off its revenue. Blockbuster has more than 6,000 stores, so it is hard to imagine that the company could disappear. But, there is some precedent, even if it is on a smaller scale. Blockbuster rival Movie Gallery said in February that it would close all of its 2,400 U.S. stores. Blockbuster's model of renting movies through physical locations has been destroyed by cable and satellite video on demand, DVDs via mail and dispensing machines. Blockbuster may still be around as a company that has movie kiosks and a small mail and Internet-delivered content business. But its brick and-mortar business is dead.
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group
T-Mobile
Moody's Corp
BP
Kia Motors Corp.
Merrill Lynch
Zale Corp
RadioShack
- is one of the oldest retailers in the U.S. It was founded in 1921 and in the early 1960s was purchased by Tandy Corp. The Tandy name was used for some of Radio Shack's retail stores. RadioShack is currently a takeover target. There have been rumors that the company may be taken private via a leveraged buyout or purchased by Best Buy (NYSE: BBY - News), probably for its locations. Best Buy would certainly not keep the RadioShack brand because it is considered downscale and does not have the reputation for quality products and service that Best Buy enjoys. RadioShack has already begun to rebrand itself as "The Shack," an indication that it knows the older brand is a burden.
 
I've heard of all of them. In fact, I didn't know that Zale was still around! (ETA: Whoops, confused with Zayre. Okay, don't know what Zale is, unless they mean the Zales jewelry stores, which I doubt)

And what's this doing in the General Gaming forum?
 
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BP is not going anywhere. They may get bought by Exxon, but they're not going bankrupt. They make 5 billion dollars net profit every 3 months. This oil spill has hurt them, but not enough to kill them. The world isn't going to stop needing gas and oil all of a sudden. People have short memories, and half of the US are BP apologists anyway
 
[quote name='Puffa469']BP is not going anywhere. They may get bought by Exxon, but they're not going bankrupt. They make 5 billion dollars net profit every 3 months. This oil spill has hurt them, but not enough to kill them. The world isn't going to stop needing gas and oil all of a sudden. People have short memories, and half of the US are BP apologists anyway[/QUOTE]

BP is not going anywhere. They would just change the name.
 
Someone should write a movie about Blockbuster. How did they not see this coming and how did the people in charge not do anything about it until it was too late? Unreal.
 
[quote name='Puffa469']BP is not going anywhere. They may get bought by Exxon, but they're not going bankrupt. They make 5 billion dollars net profit every 3 months. This oil spill has hurt them, but not enough to kill them. The world isn't going to stop needing gas and oil all of a sudden. People have short memories, and half of the US are BP apologists anyway[/QUOTE]
BP as a brand will disappear; not the company as a whole. The company will break apart for their own good, so that it may survive under a different banner.

Brand =/= Company.
 
Why wouldn't Best Buy keep the Radio Shack brand name around if they bought them? It's a brand people know. Brands are good. BP also isn't going anywhere. Disaster, sure. But they won't go under from it.

Blockbuster...maybe their retail stores will close, but they'll still have a small impact on the current marketplace. It's funny that they had a chance to buy Netflix back in 2000 but turned it down, and now Netflix is going to crush them.
 
Has anyone seen Reader's Digest lately? It's anorexic. Half the size it used to be, if even that.

My grandparents had some friends who were alive when it first came out. In its first year, you could buy a lifetime subscription for...I want to say twenty five bucks, which at the time was much heftier than it would be today. Their collection is sitting up on a shelf, all the way back to the first issue.

It's weird to think about how the magazine has a sincere chance of dying. These days, it's essentially a few stories and then - I swear - nothing but jokes and stories you'd get in an email with FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:FW: subject titles. I'm thinking it is on life support at best - probably with whoever has a lifetime subscription left.
 
I think some of those brands would probably be sold, sort of like Circuit City and Compusa still exit as part of TigerDirect
 
[quote name='Jodou']BP as a brand will disappear; not the company as a whole. The company will break apart for their own good, so that it may survive under a different banner.

Brand =/= Company.[/QUOTE]

I think that even the 'brand' of BP dissapearing is a real long shot.

It's green and yellow, they're the eco-friendly oil company!
 
Well I believe it about Blockbuster now, the store near my house closed up without any notice whatsoever. It's just empty now. I wonder if they had any sales.
 
Movie Gallery announced it was closing everything in late April, not February..

Blockbuster will go under. It's inevitable at this point. I doubt BP or T-Mobile will.
 
T-Mobile only had a profit of $306 million in 2009
Click to expand...

Only? Geez. I wish I could make $306 million in ONE year and consider it paltry. They have 30+ million users too, right? How the fuck is that considered 'dying'?

As for the rest of them I've heard of every one of them except for Moody's.
 
Can't say I'd miss any of those. Maybe Radio Shack slightly as those are handy if you need some random electrical part. i.e. I stopped by one to buy a electric plug adapter for continental Europe on the morning before my flight as I had forgot about needing one until the night before.

Also, why is this thread in general gaming?
 
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Never heard of some of them, but thoughts on a few.

Reader's Digest as we know it may die eventually, but not next year. Granted, I don't know the state the mag is in as I've only seen it in offices ad such if then. But that's not a RD thing, it's a lot of paper publications. Newspapers can be read online now, specialist magazines sometimes have articles on their own websites but there also slow as you have to wait weekly / monthly / etc while the internet can put out that same news in an instant. May as well mention about newspapers too. I've heard myself that some day (years down the road), the newspaper you read will be on an electronic device of some sort that's delivered to you, and you just pay a fee to use that. But in the age of electronics, paper is a dying thing.

For blockbuster, it's hard to say. Sure, MG / HWV are currently on their way out, but aside from BBV, what other B&M movie rental stores are there that are large scale? Sure you have Video Den and a few smaller ones. It's true they are suffering and Netflix / Red Box has the market, but I would think there would always be people who prefer going to the store themselves and for that reason it's hard to envision them dying, but I also know believing that is probably to be a fool.

For BP, they won't die. For some brands in some businesses, maybe a name change is for the best, but I don't see it really effecting BP one way or the other. Just to use myself as an example, while I may go to Sheetz a lot partially for their food section (major eastern gas station chain), I usually don't care where I get my gas. If somebody has it the cheapest, if it's not out of my way, I go there. Whether it's sheetz, BP, AC&T, etc. Sure, people cry foul of the oil spill, but aside from your activist groups, in time, people won't care. Hell, they may not even care now.
 
[quote name='JStryke']
For BP, they won't die. For some brands in some businesses, maybe a name change is for the best, but I don't see it really effecting BP one way or the other. Just to use myself as an example, while I may go to Sheetz a lot partially for their food section (major eastern gas station chain), I usually don't care where I get my gas. If somebody has it the cheapest, if it's not out of my way, I go there. Whether it's sheetz, BP, AC&T, etc. Sure, people cry foul of the oil spill, but aside from your activist groups, in time, people won't care. Hell, they may not even care now.[/QUOTE]

A name change is right, as some companies from yesteryear simply switched gears and some even continued their operations they had in other countries under the same name.

Case in point: Woolworth's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolworth%27s_Department_Store

I know many on here who are younger will be like 'wtf is Woolworth's', but for those people who don't know it was a discount retail chain. Even Kmart came from Kresge's. Scary that I know all of this useless trivial info, but I remember many of these dying/dead chains from when I was a kid.

Anyway, Woolworth's did close down as a chain, but they came back as the Venator Group. What's the Venator Group you might ask?

Two words: Foot Locker

So not every chain dies out completely, as has already been covered in this thread.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']A name change is right, as some companies from yesteryear simply switched gears and some even continued their operations they had in other countries under the same name.

Case in point: Woolworth's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolworth%27s_Department_Store

I know many on here who are younger will be like 'wtf is Woolworth's', but for those people who don't know it was a discount retail chain. Even Kmart came from Kresge's. Scary that I know all of this useless trivial info, but I remember many of these dying/dead chains from when I was a kid.

Anyway, Woolworth's did close down as a chain, but they came back as the Venator Group. What's the Venator Group you might ask?

Two words: Foot Locker

So not every chain dies out completely, as has already been covered in this thread.[/QUOTE]

I remember Woolworth's they were in just about every mall I went when I was kid.


Interesting they went from jack of all trades to sporting apparel I didn't know that.
 
[quote name='CaoPi']Best Buy would certainly not keep the RadioShack brand because it is considered downscale and does not have the reputation for quality products and service that Best Buy enjoys.[/QUOTE]

Bestbuy has a reputation for quality products and service? Is this guy smoking something?
 
[quote name='camoor']Bestbuy has a reputation for quality products and service? Is this guy smoking something?[/QUOTE]

in the wal mart world, just having employees somewhere near the products is quality service.
 
[quote name='evildeadjedi']I remember Woolworth's they were in just about every mall I went when I was kid.


Interesting they went from jack of all trades to sporting apparel I didn't know that.[/QUOTE]
Even Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward didn't completely fade away, they ended up being online only retailers, though I have to wonder if they were being run by some third party company like when Tiger Direct bought the names for CompUSA and Circuit City.
[quote name='camoor']Bestbuy has a reputation for quality products and service? Is this guy smoking something?[/QUOTE]
I was gonna say that as well, but I was trying to be nice(for once).:lol:
 
[quote name='ritchardf']in the wal mart world, just having employees somewhere near the products is quality service.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, sadly when it comes to today's B&M stores--especially chain B&M stores--the service at Best Buy is on the higher end. It's easier to find someone to help, and they tend to at least know where things are (which is the only help I ever need as I do research before going shopping so I don't need advice).
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah, sadly when it comes to today's B&M stores--especially chain B&M stores--the service at Best Buy is on the higher end. It's easier to find someone to help, and they tend to at least know where things are (which is the only help I ever need as I do research before going shopping so I don't need advice).[/QUOTE]

If you get a chance check out a Microcenter. Reminds me of what Radio Shack used to be, only better because it's huge.
 
I'm sorry Netflix/online videos ect, did not kill Blockbuster. Poorly runned/stocked stores and high prices with ridiculous late fees killed them. If games were not 10+ dollars to rent for five days (plus no more month rentals) than I'd still go every once in a while.

I liked when they had the week rental + another two weeks to return it (grace period) + up to a month before they charged you full price. That was worth it...
 
Personally I don't know how RadioShack has stayed in business. With Walmart, Newegg and Amazon, you never even need to go to a little place like RadioShack that is about 57,000 square feet smaller then their competitors.

As for Blockbuster, they should have gone out of business instead of Hollywood Video. HWV had much smarter employees, with much smaller attitudes :rofl: Not only that, but Blockbuster also charged $10 for five days of game rental. How do people pay that!?

P.S. Really, thinking about it, most B&M stores will be out of business soon enough. Even big boys like Gamestop will come to end and have to close their stores, because the cost of running an online store is severely cheaper then running an actual location, and online businesses get more action then B&M places. Convenience!
 
[quote name='DarkNessBear']I'm sorry Netflix/online videos ect, did not kill Blockbuster. Poorly runned/stocked stores and high prices with ridiculous late fees killed them. If games were not 10+ dollars to rent for five days (plus no more month rentals) than I'd still go every once in a while.

I liked when they had the week rental + another two weeks to return it (grace period) + up to a month before they charged you full price. That was worth it...[/QUOTE]

I 1250000% agree with this. Blockbuster never did things customer friendly, they were constantly raising their prices. I remember when games used to be 4.99 or 5.99 for rentals. Now that price has doubled?:bomb:
 
[quote name='DarkNessBear']I'm sorry Netflix/online videos ect, did not kill Blockbuster. Poorly runned/stocked stores and high prices with ridiculous late fees killed them. If games were not 10+ dollars to rent for five days (plus no more month rentals) than I'd still go every once in a while.

I liked when they had the week rental + another two weeks to return it (grace period) + up to a month before they charged you full price. That was worth it...[/QUOTE]


It was both. All that's true and kept me away from Blockbuster for sure.

But they could have had great service and 10 cent rentals and I'd still ditched them for Netflix as I don't want to hassle with picking up and returning discs to a store vs. getting them in the mail.
 
This article is a complete joke. Don't understand how it even got published. Just read the section on Kia. Sounds like something written for a 10th grade English project. Not to mention the opinions with no source to back them up. While there may be some truth to some of these (Blockbuster namely), this article adds nothing.

Move along now.
 
[quote name='Thekrakrabbit']Personally I don't know how RadioShack has stayed in business. With Walmart, Newegg and Amazon, you never even need to go to a little place like RadioShack that is about 57,000 square feet smaller then their competitors.

[/QUOTE]

Radioshack is still in business because they carry electronic parts you can't find in the larger stores.

[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Even Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward didn't completely fade away, they ended up being online only retailers, though I have to wonder if they were being run by some third party company like when Tiger Direct bought the names for CompUSA and Circuit City.

[/QUOTE]

I remember Service Merchandise as a kid, I hated going in there especially since Toys R Us was next door. :lol:
 
Another reason for Radioshack being alive?

If you play guitar, you can tell Guitar Center to fuck off.
Every musician I knows gets their cables at Radioshack. :lol:
 
I'd like to see the author's criteria for T-Mobile going under. The majority of places on these types of lists are always good for a laugh since there is no basis given for their inclusion on the list.

[quote name='Thekrakrabbit']P.S. Really, thinking about it, most B&M stores will be out of business soon enough.[/QUOTE]

I'll take sweeping, uninformed generalizations for $600, Alex.
 
[quote name='javeryh']Someone should write a movie about Blockbuster. How did they not see this coming and how did the people in charge not do anything about it until it was too late? Unreal.[/QUOTE]

It could be like "Armageddon" or something.
 
[quote name='evildeadjedi']Radioshack is still in business because they carry electronic parts you can't find in the larger stores.[/quote]

True enough. Their stores may be small, but they carry things that few other places do.

[quote name='evildeadjedi']
I remember Service Merchandise as a kid, I hated going in there especially since Toys R Us was next door. :lol:[/QUOTE]

I loved Service Merchandise. Their prices on Transformers were always cheaper than everyone else. You were restricted to whatever was in their catalog -- you had to look at the catalog, fill out an order form, and wait for the item on a conveyor belt -- but if they had something, it was always a better deal.
 
[quote name='blandstalker']
I loved Service Merchandise. [/QUOTE]

ditto. acquired my first set of responsible toys there, air rifle with scope and a spring loaded pistol (BB and pellet guns).

i remember test firing it in the hallway to see how many yellow pages it would pierce... ah, good times.
 
[quote name='evildeadjedi']Radioshack is still in business because they carry electronic parts you can't find in the larger stores.
[/QUOTE]

That's what another I was talking to said, but its not really all that true. So RadioShack has items that nobody on the Internet or any other store has? Walmart, Newegg, Amazon, Ultimate Electronics, even Ebay. All combined with the rest of the Internet, and you still couldn't find everything + 100% more then what RadioShack has?

Still though, I do like RadioShack. If you can find one of their 2 stores in each state :lol: they do have some pretty cool items in there.
 
[quote name='neocisco']
I'll take sweeping, uninformed generalizations for $600, Alex.[/QUOTE]

Come on, its not so "uninformed". Its pretty easy to see IMO that most B&M stores will at the very least take a massive hit in the coming years as the economy gets worse and the Internet becomes more advanced.

Why drive to one B&M store that has less items in total then their online catalog, when you can open up 6 browsers and shop around everyone at one time.
 
[quote name='Thekrakrabbit']That's what another I was talking to said, but its not really all that true. So RadioShack has items that nobody on the Internet or any other store has? Walmart, Newegg, Amazon, Ultimate Electronics, even Ebay. All combined with the rest of the Internet, and you still couldn't find everything + 100% more then what RadioShack has?

Still though, I do like RadioShack. If you can find one of their 2 stores in each state :lol: they do have some pretty cool items in there.[/QUOTE]

Of course not however, it's all about convenience and it's all about small parts like capacitors, diodes, relays, switches, etc you can get there rather than waiting a few days online.
 
[quote name='turboice']not KIIIAAAAAaaaaaaa[/QUOTE]

I'm not too worried about Kia going under. They make little econo-cars, and that's all the craze. Who wants to buy an "American" car that will probably blow up (even though most "American" cars are not really American) when they can buy a nice, reliable Asian car :lol:

I would be very sad if Kia went down though....
 
[quote name='evildeadjedi']Of course not however, it's all about convenience and it's all about small parts like capacitors, diodes, relays, switches, etc you can get there rather than waiting a few days online.[/QUOTE]

Not to mention when you order from places like Digikey, you have to order in bulk.

I don't think I've even set foot in a blockbuster for at least 3 years. :lol:
 
Service Merchandise sucked, they always had the highest prices of any store around here, plus their selection was usually horrible. Wasn't surprised when they folded.
 
[quote name='Ashesinfall']Definitely knew Blockbuster would go out eventually as well as T-Mobile. But Kia motors? I thought they were doing really well.[/QUOTE]

Well, I'm confused. You seem to have some kind of insider knowledge T-Mobile has gone out of business since you're speaking in the past tense. Yet my T-Mobile phone is working just fine. How can this be?
 
I would care if Kia went out of business, I like them.

And also, T-Mobile won't go under. Even without a merge with somebody else like Sprint, they are still quite big as a whole. If they did merge with Sprint, I think they would have a good shot at going hand and hand with AT&T.
 
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