W. Kel. Future Shop Closing!

[Captain Awesome]

Give him some tips, I'm sure he's open to your solutions to global economic problems.

Close the oil patch, solar panels everywhere.

There is a sure money making scheme right there!

[SurplusElect]

Close the oil patch

Texas and China own that.

...but back to economic problems ;)

[RandyKimberly]

Just a few things first its not a native thing at all and I'm not sure why as soon as one person sees the word native they blame it on that. The store did more sales than the Kelowna store and the thing that makes no sense is that they keep the Kelowna one which is right across the street from Best Buy... The other problem is the world where people are lazy and have no interaction with others which is the reason for closing this store and many others to come. People just want to sit at home and buy stuff and have it sent to their home instead of actually going out. And when this happens more people will lose jobs and less money will be in the economy to keep it going. Think about it people need to go to work to get money to seed money and when you do it on line your just giving to the company running the computer not a person in front of you. And so you know my wife worked at this store from the day it opened and there where a lot of realy nice people that worked their and had families to feed just like anyone else. Such a shame what companies will do to say money for themselves.

[Spocky]

Other than one offhand remark, I've yet to see any hard evidence that WK FS was outperforming the one in Kelowna. I strongly doubt that any company with three outlets in one metro area would kill off any but their lowest performing one. Let's face it, do we really think that Target chose to take the small, tight, store in Kelowna with its horrible parking insufficiencies over the much more spacious WK location because they're insane? You can be sure that Target very carefully studied every market that each Zellers was in and their decision to shun WK was done because they saw that it was a market that was spiraling down. Almost every other Zellers rejected by Target was sold to someone else, but WK just fell through the cracks as nobody wanted it, and no one still does given the fact that I have yet to hear of anyone leasing out even a portion of it.

It's not a head office thing, it's not a native thing, it's not an anything thing but the cold hard fact: WEST KELOWNA IS A HORRIBLE RETAIL MARKET. Stores are voting with their feet and fleeing. It's not just fact!

[E3V]

NCIX would be great at that location but from what I read online it's a 20,000 square foot unit. Paying rent out the wazoo I imagine. Commercial rent is too high in this valley.


In this Google Street View the sign isn't even completely up! http://goo.gl/maps/7tIji

[underscore]

The other problem is the world where people are lazy and have no interaction with others which is the reason for closing this store and many others to come. People just want to sit at home and buy stuff and have it sent to their home instead of actually going out.

There are very few stores worth leaving home to go to, and FS/BB certainly aren't amongst those. Why would you leave your house and drive to a store to deal with untrained, uninformed staff that only want to upsell you the most expensive thing they can rather than listen to what you actually want, and then aggressively try to gouge you further with overpriced add-ons?

[LoneWolf_53]

There are very few stores worth leaving home to go to, and FS/BB certainly aren't amongst those. Why would you leave your house and drive to a store to deal with untrained, uninformed staff that only want to upsell you the most expensive thing they can rather than listen to what you actually want, and then aggressively try to gouge you further with overpriced add-ons?

Precisely!

Add to what you posted about personnel, the time to go there, the fuel to go there, and the uncertainty that they'll even have exactly what you want.

I'd rather save my time and fuel in obtaining piddly no brainer items and put the savings toward getting a better quality item.

I'm certainly not alone in that department. Retailers need to evolve and there's no getting away from it.

[melscarandtruckrental]

900 jobs lost at future shop 700 more jobs lost at sears. Ask these people how they feel about online shopping. I think I would rather shop local and pay a few more dollars for something than have to support people that are losing their jobs thru no fault ofr their own.

[LoneWolf_53]

900 jobs lost at future shop 700 more jobs lost at sears. Ask these people how they feel about online shopping. I think I would rather shop local and pay a few more dollars for something than have to support people that are losing their jobs thru no fault ofr their own.

Heart wrenching as that sounds, the simple truth is times change, people need to adapt, as do retailers. If you'd read my earlier post you would have noted that I made some suggestions.

The problem is the economy, combined with FS and BB not recognizing trends soon enough, they need to identify what things people will still drive to a store for, as well as what items would be better suited to online selling. Merchandise doesn't box itself up, and ship itself so there's still need for workers.

You might recall that on the advent of the computer, humans had to adapt as well, some jobs lost, some created, but everyone had to adapt or get left behind.

That's reality like it or not, and your not liking it sure as heck won't compel me to spend more on a local item, than the cheaper exact one I want that I can get online with far less effort. Added bonus is it's also a greener way of shopping.

[HanSolo]

It's unfortunate for those people who lost their jobs today - not an easy market for job seekers.

And comments by others are right on - the online retailers like NCIX, MemoryExpress and Amazon have vastly improved their direct to home shipping speed, service & inventory. When you top that off with the best prices, it's pretty hard to justify going to a brick and mortar store to be hassled by a salesperson to buy warranty plans and wait in lines. I buy some items at FutureShop, but I never go there without already knowing exactly what I'm buying and if it is in stock (you can check on their website.)

The funny thing is I often get asked by other customers for help because I know more than their salespeople about their products. One customer thought I worked there, even though I wasn't wearing a FutureShop uniform, just because he overheard me talking when I was helping a friend shop for several new computers ("Excuse me, but can you help me next"!)

[GoStumpy]

Who doesn't want somewhere knowledgable, friendly, that will deliver & set up your new purchase for free?

I don't think FS did that very well

[HanSolo]

The problem is the economy, combined with FS and BB not recognizing trends soon enough, they need to identify what things people will still drive to a store for, as well as what items would be better suited to online selling. Merchandise doesn't box itself up, and ship itself so there's still need for workers.

Bingo. If you want to lay blame, lay it at the feet of BestBuy, for not adapting quickly enough to industry trends. NCIX and MemoryExpress both have brick and mortar stores, but their overhead is much lower and they reach a wider market with better online product selection and quick delivery.

[Always Sunny]

There are very few stores worth leaving home to go to, and FS/BB certainly aren't amongst those. Why would you leave your house and drive to a store to deal with untrained, uninformed staff that only want to upsell you the most expensive thing they can rather than listen to what you actually want, and then aggressively try to gouge you further with overpriced add-ons?

For most of the electronics I buy these days I go to Staples. Better customer service, same/similar products (and they'll price match anything anyways...even online stores). They don't work on commission and the staff I've worked with have been nothing but helpful even when I fully admitted that I was checking out other stores in town as well. Bought a laptop and paid next to nothing for the set up (I'm technologically illiterate with those things)...they called me within a couple hours that it was ready to go. Last time I brought a computer to Future Shop it was days before they could even take a look at it.

[GoStumpy]

Completely agree... there is nothing I consider going to Future Shop for these days except perhaps cheap disposable Cameras or a new iPod... There are much better options for pretty much everything Future Shop offers, so why shop there?

And most of the stores that are better options than Future Shop are more 'locally owned' as well!

[LoneWolf_53]

It's unfortunate for those people who lost their jobs today - not an easy market for job seekers.

And comments by others are right on - the online retailers like NCIX, MemoryExpress and Amazon have vastly improved their direct to home shipping speed, service & inventory. When you top that off with the best prices, it's pretty hard to justify going to a brick and mortar store to be hassled by a salesperson to buy warranty plans and wait in lines. I buy some items at FutureShop, but I never go there without already knowing exactly what I'm buying and if it is in stock (you can check on their website.)

Same exact strategy for me.

The funny thing is I often get asked by other customers for help because I know more than their salespeople about their products. One customer thought I worked there, even though I wasn't wearing a FutureShop uniform, just because he overheard me talking when I was helping a friend shop for several new computers ("Excuse me, but can you help me next"!)

LOL. I've had the exact same thing happen to me on a couple of occassions, one time I'd actually heard a sales person give a potential customer incorrect information regarding a particular printer model, which after he stepped away I corrected for the person, as they were about to purchase a disappointment that would not do what they thought it could, upon so doing was tapped on the shoulder by another person who was waiting. Should have asked if they would give me commission.

Nothing bugs me more, than hearing people get BS'd by someone, who doesn't wish to admit that they don't know the answer. I've always been of the mind that the proper approach would be to say "excuse me let me go ask about that for you".

On the bright side I credit FS for giving me the incentive required to be knowledgable and competent around electronics, because prior to my teaching myself, I was getting fed a lot of nonsense and I suspected as much. Every once in a while you can find a really knowledgable person, but they seem to be few and far between.