Companies you are surprised still exist

[Zeltar]

I came across a Valvoline yesterday in LA. I thought they had been absorbed or changed names, I hadn't seen one in over ten years.

[lonestar]

I came across a Valvoline yesterday in LA. I thought they had been absorbed or changed names, I hadn't seen one in over ten years.

The more important question is, what the fuck are you doing in LA? Better be for money or pussy man....

[black_biff_stadler]

So are you surprised the company exists or just the buildings? I say this because their automotive products have always been sold at all major places as far back as I can remember.

[JayOctavarium]

I came across a Valvoline yesterday in LA. I thought they had been absorbed or changed names, I hadn't seen one in over ten years.

The more important question is, what the fuck are you doing in LA? Better be for money or pussy man....

What's wrong with LA?

[King Postwhore]

Valvoline is big in the northeast.  They charge double for an oil change and I would never go to them.

[lonestar]

I came across a Valvoline yesterday in LA. I thought they had been absorbed or changed names, I hadn't seen one in over ten years.

The more important question is, what the fuck are you doing in LA? Better be for money or pussy man....

What's wrong with LA?

*smacks*

[rumborak]

Polaroid. What do they even sell at this point?

[jasc15]

competing with gopro, apparently.

[BlobVanDam]

I think Polaroid even sell tablets these days, so I think they're just throwing everything at the wall at this point and seeing if anything sticks.

[black_biff_stadler]

I sold a Polaroid camera today.

[Cool Chris]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

[BlobVanDam]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

I'm convinced that radio and newspapers are only in business at this point because of people over 50.

[The King in Crimson]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

Yes.

[rumborak]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

I'm convinced that radio and newspapers are only in business at this point because of people over 50.

Commuters. Don't forget commuters.

[gabeh1018]

I guess this is the exact opposite of the OPs post, but does anyone know why Johnny Carino's closed down everywhere? For anyone who is not familiar with that restaurant, it'sa  much better version of Olive Garden IMO
They all shutdown in NJ back in 2009 for whatever reason
Man I loved their food

[Chino]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

Yes.

All the time. I listen to AM as well.

[Prog Snob]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

I'm convinced that radio and newspapers are only in business at this point because of people over 50.

Commuters. Don't forget commuters.

Most of the commuters I see reading a physical newspaper are in the older crowd. The younger crowd reads them on their iPads, Kindles, etc.

[cramx3]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

I'm convinced that radio and newspapers are only in business at this point because of people over 50.

Commuters. Don't forget commuters.

Most of the commuters I see reading a physical newspaper are in the older crowd. The younger crowd reads them on their iPads, Kindles, etc.

Commuters love the radio too, I listen to FM on my ride to work in the morning for sports radio.  Granted I could stream it through my phone so yea FM isn't totally needed.

[Prog Snob]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

I'm convinced that radio and newspapers are only in business at this point because of people over 50.

Commuters. Don't forget commuters.

Most of the commuters I see reading a physical newspaper are in the older crowd. The younger crowd reads them on their iPads, Kindles, etc.

Commuters love the radio too, I listen to FM on my ride to work in the morning for sports radio.  Granted I could stream it through my phone so yea FM isn't totally needed.

I listen to CDs in the car.  If I take public transportation, I have a book.  The only FM station that I ever listen to is 104.3.

[cramx3]

Yea 104.3 is the only decent radio station in the area IMO but sports radio is the only reason I use the FM tuner.  Otherwise its music through my phone via AUX to the car. I'm not really a music radio person because I like to choose what I want to listen to.

[hefdaddy42]

Any FM Channel. Or, FM in general. Or do people still listen to FM?

Yes.

[King Postwhore]

Sports talk I do and once in a while, I'll check out an independent radio station here in Boston but not much really.

[yorost]

Edit: Another fun little detail; Employees at stores that are being converted into Best Buys will have to re-apply for their own jobs. At the same locations. Even though they technically already worked for Best Buy.

They technically worked for Futureshop, which operated itself under Best Buy. They acted like competitors where I lived in Canada. If most of the re-applicants are landing the jobs I just don't see the problem, could just be a paperwork thing.

[Stadler]

Edit: Another fun little detail; Employees at stores that are being converted into Best Buys will have to re-apply for their own jobs. At the same locations. Even though they technically already worked for Best Buy.

They technically worked for Futureshop, which operated itself under Best Buy. They acted like competitors where I lived in Canada. If most of the re-applicants are landing the jobs I just don't see the problem, could just be a paperwork thing.

Why is that a bad thing?  If you're good at your job (I mean truly good, not "I'm great at my job, but management is fucked and they don't see it" good) then it shouldn't be an issue. 

[Calvin6s]

I'm convinced that radio and newspapers are only in business at this point because of people over 50.

That's kind of sad because my local newspaper is infinitely more useful than news websites and blogs.  Especially for local news, which really is what matters when all is said and done.  I read my local newspaper when I have the time via their online reader.  I prefer it in the paper layout because it makes you notice smaller stories that you weren't specifically looking for and will never show up on the front page of *bignews*.com

[hefdaddy42]

I'm convinced that radio and newspapers are only in business at this point because of people over 50.

That's kind of sad because my local newspaper is infinitely more useful than news websites and blogs.  Especially for local news, which really is what matters when all is said and done.  I read my local newspaper when I have the time via their online reader.  I prefer it in the paper layout because it makes you notice smaller stories that you weren't specifically looking for and will never show up on the front page of *bignews*.com

That's how I feel about newspapers in general (although I'm not a particularly large fan of our local paper).

[ReaperKK]

Someone mentioned it already, but Sears, and that makes me sad.   We used to go to the Sears in Bridgeport all the time as my Dad was a big fan of Craftsman tools (still has most of them, by the way) and I adopted that.  But I went in to get something about a week ago, and it was expensive (the clearance price on a TV was still $100 more than the same TV at Target and Best Buy) and as the sales people work on a commission, I wasn't halfway through the door before the salesman was on me (which I hate). 

I'm catching up reading this thread and came across this post. Last week I wanted to get a George Foreman grill so the first place I stop at is Bed Bath & Beyond, they don't carry it and told me to order online and then pick it up at the store. Next door is a Best Buy so I figure I'll swing in there and just maybe they'll have it, nope. Across the street is a Sears, surely this shell of a building won't have it but I went in there anyway. It's empty, I go upstairs and I ask one of the employees if they have any, and they did. A few models, she even opened one box to let me look at it because they didn't have a display model then went and got another new box so I wouldn't have to ring out the opened box.

Great customer service and they're price was $20 less than ordering it through Bed Bath & Beyond. I do very little shopping at brick and motor places but I should swing by Sears more often.

[cramx3]

Someone mentioned it already, but Sears, and that makes me sad.   We used to go to the Sears in Bridgeport all the time as my Dad was a big fan of Craftsman tools (still has most of them, by the way) and I adopted that.  But I went in to get something about a week ago, and it was expensive (the clearance price on a TV was still $100 more than the same TV at Target and Best Buy) and as the sales people work on a commission, I wasn't halfway through the door before the salesman was on me (which I hate). 

I'm catching up reading this thread and came across this post. Last week I wanted to get a George Foreman grill so the first place I stop at is Bed Bath & Beyond, they don't carry it and told me to order online and then pick it up at the store. Next door is a Best Buy so I figure I'll swing in there and just maybe they'll have it, nope. Across the street is a Sears, surely this shell of a building won't have it but I went in there anyway. It's empty, I go upstairs and I ask one of the employees if they have any, and they did. A few models, she even opened one box to let me look at it because they didn't have a display model then went and got another new box so I wouldn't have to ring out the opened box.

Great customer service and they're price was $20 less than ordering it through Bed Bath & Beyond. I do very little shopping at brick and motor places but I should swing by Sears more often.

I feel like sears is really only good for tools and appliances.  Anything else you can find cheaper or better at other big stores.  All the Sears by me are also all old and just don't look very pleasant.  It's hard for me to look at a Sears vs. a Target and chose to go to Sears instead besides for tools and appliances.  I see no reason to go there for electronics over Best Buy or for clothes over Target or Walmart (if you are buying clothes at these types of store, which I do sometimes) and if I want a bed/bath products then Bed Bath and Beyond is a better option.

[Stadler]

For the record, I still subscribe to my local paper (Thurs-Sat) and despite the fact that the delivery is as screwed up as possible (I miss at least one paper a week without fail) I'll still continue to do so, if only for the ad flyers and the crossword puzzles.

[King Postwhore]

We only buy the Sunday paper for the coupons.

[jammindude]

I haven't read a newspaper in years, and the last time I bought one was when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.   Before that, it had been at least a decade.

FM radio is something I still do on my morning commute.   It's not the same since Bob Rivers (of Twisted Tune fame) retired. 

[JayOctavarium]

I listen to FM radio all the time (Usually streaming a local station via my phone... because I can.)


And on the newspaper thing... our local paper used to have a free online site to read the news... and it was updated like hourly. It was great. And then... one day they went to a subscription based model. Either subscribe to the physical paper and get the online with it (Which we / I tried and they kept fucking it up) or spend like $4 a month for the digital only. I tried that as well and they completely fucked my account up and never let me renew after my first month....

[Calvin6s]

I'm sure a lot of the problems with the long term paper news is brought on by the stupid "that's old people stuff" that makes certain things trendy or not, regardless of whether it deserves to be trendy.  Like Jay said, the quality of the paper itself was still there.  But even though Jay was subscribing, many others weren't based off nothing more than "I don't want people to think I'm not cool".

It really is a strange dynamic this past decade.  Established in "19early9" used to be a big selling point for a business.  Now if something is "19somethingAnything", it is an albatross.  The "old" people aren't swayed, but the "this is our time" youth eat it up.  They are so independent, that they are swayed by the most simplistic advertising.

Somebody else mentioned how great their local Sears is.  It is sad because places like that didn't turn to crap.  They just were abandoned for no other reason than "not cool", which leads to an income shortage, which leads to scale backs, which leads to the "they turned to crap" becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I yearn for a time when we judge products and services on reality again.  And like I said, this is a relatively new thing because long time businesses used to be a selling point.

[eric42434224]

No....the problems with a physical newspaper were not brought about by any "that's old people stuff".  The quality of the paper is NOT still there as it is simply an out dated product.  Nothing to do with "cool" or "trendy".

Companies like these going away have very little to do with any "cool" factor, nor are they a recent phenomenon.  It is simply a case of technology or updated needs making a product or service obsolete.  Why wait for a newspaper for news that is a day old, when you can use the internet and get it up to the minute and free?
Sears and other retailers suffer because of several factors.  As a retailer, their business model depends on remaining efficient and current.  It isnt the consumers fault if management cant run their business properly.  Even if it isnt managements fault, you cant blame the consumer if the trends go away from a business.  Thats just life in business.
We used to use Horses, then cars....now Hybrid/Electric Tech is growing.
We used to use Telegraph., then phones....then cell tech came along.
We used to go watch film movies in a theater parlor, then the VCR....now with digital we can watch them on our phones.
We ARE judging products and services on reality...TODAYS reality....not yesterdays reality.  Yearning for a physical news paper is judging on nostalgia, and not its outdated model.

[RoeDent]

I was coming home from holiday on the train yesterday and I saw an MFI* store. I haven't seen one of those for years! I just thought they'd gone out of business or something.

*Furniture store, I believe.