Another bookstore bites the dust?

[If_I_Loved_you]

Circuit City died because their management team made a series of errors stretching a decade.  Their real estate plan was crap, their inventory management was crap, their decision to stop selling appliances was crap, and their decision to go from a commission based compensation plan to an hourly rate was crap.

Well it looks as if you can say that about Best Buy also?

[fsquid]

Circuit City died because their management team made a series of errors stretching a decade.  Their real estate plan was crap, their inventory management was crap, their decision to stop selling appliances was crap, and their decision to go from a commission based compensation plan to an hourly rate was crap.

Well it looks as if you can say that about Best Buy also?

well in Best Buy's case I think it is mainly that they cannot compete with Amazon.  My point was that Circuit City was headed that way before e-commerce really exploded.  The earnings call for Best Buy next week will be quite interesting.

[If_I_Loved_you]

Circuit City died because their management team made a series of errors stretching a decade.  Their real estate plan was crap, their inventory management was crap, their decision to stop selling appliances was crap, and their decision to go from a commission based compensation plan to an hourly rate was crap.

Well it looks as if you can say that about Best Buy also?

well in Best Buy's case I think it is mainly that they cannot compete with Amazon.  My point was that Circuit City was headed that way before e-commerce really exploded.  The earnings call for Best Buy next week will be quite interesting.

Amazon hasn't helped but just go into the local Wal Mart or Target. And you can get TVs from 19" - 60" for the same price or lower.

[Tacachale]

Amazon has done more to hurt the economy than most people realize, and this is because of our government's lack of action to investigate the idea that a new, damaging, dynamic has arrived in the economy, much like the late nineteenth century when the energetic capitalists were forming powerful monopolies, unfairly killing off smaller competitors so as to increase prices.  The new dynamic is of course the Internet.  It has allowed an efficiency in marketing, selling and buying never before seen, and its impact on retailers throughout the nation has been catastrophic.  Although the Internet has been a boon in certain respects, it's efficiency and brutality to some businesses, has been a negative jolt to the economy.

The Internet was the major factor behind the closing of Tappin Book mine at the beach.  And it has been the cause of many other bookstores going out of business.  The e-book is making some impact on the health of bookstores, but I believe the impact will level off, leaving a good market for the regular books from now on, as some people, as reflected in our continuing sales, will want certain conveniences while reading the larger books, and will simply want real books to have on their shelves.

Each format has its advantages, each having attributes and abilities lacking in the other.  So I'm inclined to believe that both the e-book and the traditional book will exist in parallel.  The only problem with the e-books is that there are more and more cases showing up of NCH (nook cancer of the hands), and KCH (kindle cancer of the hands), generated apparently by some slight radiation coming from the e-books.  One doesn't have to worry about the cancers with the traditional book.   

I think simply taxing online retail in the way in-state businesses are taxed will help level the playing field, at least a bit. It's crazy the state hasn't done anything about it. We're effectively subsidizing companies to take money out of Florida.

[Tacachale]

The internet isn't just killing off books. Its killing retail in general as we have known it up to this point. Little piddly music stores & the postal service was just the beginning.

Truth be told, most of the crap we see all around us today is completely unnecessary & becoming irrelevant. Unless its clothing, food, or specialized boutique shopping of some kind that the internet can't replicate, then its in danger. Its not apparent at first, but its becoming that way as we move forward. Thats why you saw places like Circuit City & CompUSA fall years ago (they were the weakest), & are now seeing the big boys (like Best Buy) start the process of collapsing. The bubble was big, now its bursting all over the place. You can feel the panic all over the place.

Just today I was in an Office Depot waiting to be checked out, was looking around at the employees & thought "Damn, almost every bit of this stuff I can buy or have done online." Not even that, but cheaper & probably better quality. Without even going in somewhere. There's no way to complete with that, and they won't. Their overhead is simply too tremendous in those storefronts. My opinion is the only reason why places like that are still surviving is because of the technology gap between the young & old. Meaning the oldies are most likely the ones keeping them in business. As you know, that never lasts.

P.S. I'm not exactly celebrating this. But I don't think the answer is for some kind of government intervention to step in & keep these things on artificial life support. Its natural progression that they die, like everything else that technology made obsolete. The problem is gonna be how society deals with it all, in the go go capitalism world that we've made for ourselves up to now. Because one thing's for sure, when you factor in the population numbers, how less things are manufactured here (or by robotics), and now with the oncoming death of most of retail, there WILL NOT be enough jobs to go around. And not everyone can (or even should) go to college to get a degree (just ask the 50% of graduates who are unemployed or severely underemployed).

So here we are.

The digital divide is much more than young vs. old. It's also haves vs. have-nots. The poor, ethnic minorities, and those with lower levels educational attainment are less likely to have access to the internet and other technology than other demographics. This is a very real and troubling problem, and it's not something that can be solved through education. Currently, simply accessing these amenities the majority takes for granted requires significant expense.

Additionally, part of the reason the internet is cheaper is, again, because the government hasn't found a way to tax it like everyone else gets taxed. People aren't seeing the true costs of it.

[subro]

I'm blaming him for the disaster that was the Olympic Triplecast back in the day.

Good! Good! let's Blame him for all of are Troubles.

Certainly we should blame him for that sentence you just typed.

Whats wrong with my sentence Teacher? Have you watched "Family Guy" there is a Cockroach that says Good Good. Should I have left out the exclamation symbols? GWB was my english teacher "Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, George, were visiting with us. They are near retirement — retiring — in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people who are retirement age and are retiring."

It's "our" not "are". It should be a capital "L", small "b" and small "t". Other than that, you nailed it. 

[Debbie Thompson]

Politicians are afraid of passing a sales tax on Internet sales because the ads of their opponents in the next election will all say, "He/she voted for the largest tax hike in history!" and they'll lose the next election.  Plus, some people see no sales tax as a trade off to paying shipping, not that the two are related in any way, shape or form.

[peestandingup]

Circuit City died because their management team made a series of errors stretching a decade.  Their real estate plan was crap, their inventory management was crap, their decision to stop selling appliances was crap, and their decision to go from a commission based compensation plan to an hourly rate was crap.

Sure. I actually worked for them for 6 months about 10 years ago (when I was finishing college) & they were terrible even then. It did help them along, but even if they had great management, they would have died eventually anyway (like Best Buy & many others are doing now) because the very nature of it is unsustainable in the internet age. IMO, places like Circuit City, CompUSA, etc were the weakest links in this whole chain, so they went first. Whether it was from crappy management or whatever, the cause is still ultimately the same for all of them.

I also don't mean to just focus on retail. Newspapers, local radio & news stations, cable TV, etc will all get it too. Its interesting to watch how this all plays out & the rate its going. When you consider the internet, smartphones, & that whole thing isn't really that old at all. I didn't even get a cell phone until like 12 years ago, and all it could do was make calls & was like carrying around a brick. Its an exciting time to be alive, but its scary as well.

The digital divide is much more than young vs. old. It's also haves vs. have-nots. The poor, ethnic minorities, and those with lower levels educational attainment are less likely to have access to the internet and other technology than other demographics. This is a very real and troubling problem, and it's not something that can be solved through education. Currently, simply accessing these amenities the majority takes for granted requires significant expense.

Thats a valid point. If these things were more affordable & wide spread, then you'd really see this all get kicked up a notch. Although I think it will be like anything else. Prices will comedown, accessibility will open up. Even the last year has seen a very noticeable difference in pricing. Prepaid cell phone service (with data) is growing like crazy & super affordable, you can get a good tablet now for $200 (Nexus 7, Kindle Fire), etc. Rural broadband is getting pushed to be modernized as well.

[Tamara-B]

I always thought things going digital would be more convenient for some people. Instead of lugging books around in your bag, you just have them all uploaded to your e-reader, smartphone, tablet, etc. Now it's an issue? Personally, I still love going to the library and picking up a good book to read. At 21, I don't think my generation is completely corrupted by technology.

[Tacachale]

Politicians are afraid of passing a sales tax on Internet sales because the ads of their opponents in the next election will all say, "He/she voted for the largest tax hike in history!" and they'll lose the next election.  Plus, some people see no sales tax as a trade off to paying shipping, not that the two are related in any way, shape or form.

Part of why they don't do it is that it's complicated to collect a tax on out-of-state sales, and too many of our representatives just can't handle anything complicated. It doesn't help that Amazon spends hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying them to avoid it - and there are many other online retailers besides Amazon. I think it's quite likely a lot of people just see "it's cheaper online" and don't give it another thought, they don't realize "online" is effectively being subsidized.

The digital divide is much more than young vs. old. It's also haves vs. have-nots. The poor, ethnic minorities, and those with lower levels educational attainment are less likely to have access to the internet and other technology than other demographics. This is a very real and troubling problem, and it's not something that can be solved through education. Currently, simply accessing these amenities the majority takes for granted requires significant expense.

Thats a valid point. If these things were more affordable & wide spread, then you'd really see this all get kicked up a notch. Although I think it will be like anything else. Prices will comedown, accessibility will open up. Even the last year has seen a very noticeable difference in pricing. Prepaid cell phone service (with data) is growing like crazy & super affordable, you can get a good tablet now for $200 (Nexus 7, Kindle Fire), etc. Rural broadband is getting pushed to be modernized as well.

Prices will come down and accessibility will go up, but we're still looking at fairly considerable expenses for paraphernalia that didn't even exist 20 years ago, but which the majority now consider the bare minimum to get by. It's already pretty hard to go without a cell phone, a plan for said cell phone, a personal computer, and home internet access. All of those things cost money and always will, and it's likely there will be even more devices (and expenses) in the future. And if you don't grow up with these devices you don't learn how to use them, making it harder to find a job with which to pay for them. Schools and libraries help, but then it's an additional cost to equip them. It's a vicious cycle.

[Adam W]

I'm blaming him for the disaster that was the Olympic Triplecast back in the day.

Good! Good! let's Blame him for all of are Troubles.

Certainly we should blame him for that sentence you just typed.

Whats wrong with my sentence Teacher? Have you watched "Family Guy" there is a Cockroach that says Good Good. Should I have left out the exclamation symbols? GWB was my english teacher "Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, George, were visiting with us. They are near retirement â€" retiring â€" in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people who are retirement age and are retiring."

It's "our" not "are". It should be a capitol "L", small "b" and small "t". Other than that, you nailed it. 

Capital.

[subro]

I'm blaming him for the disaster that was the Olympic Triplecast back in the day.

Good! Good! let's Blame him for all of are Troubles.

Certainly we should blame him for that sentence you just typed.

Whats wrong with my sentence Teacher? Have you watched "Family Guy" there is a Cockroach that says Good Good. Should I have left out the exclamation symbols? GWB was my english teacher "Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, George, were visiting with us. They are near retirement â€" retiring â€" in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people who are retirement age and are retiring."

It's "our" not "are". It should be a capitol "L", small "b" and small "t". Other than that, you nailed it. 

Capital.

Thanks, I corrected it before they take away my Internet Spelling Police badge...

[Adam W]

I'm blaming him for the disaster that was the Olympic Triplecast back in the day.

Good! Good! let's Blame him for all of are Troubles.

Certainly we should blame him for that sentence you just typed.

Whats wrong with my sentence Teacher? Have you watched "Family Guy" there is a Cockroach that says Good Good. Should I have left out the exclamation symbols? GWB was my english teacher "Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, George, were visiting with us. They are near retirement â€" retiring â€" in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people who are retirement age and are retiring."

It's "our" not "are". It should be a capitol "L", small "b" and small "t". Other than that, you nailed it. 

Capital.

Thanks, I corrected it before they take away my Internet Spelling Police badge...

[Traveller]

As far as Amazon goes, that's as much the state's fault as anything. Year after year they neglect to come up with an appropriate way to tax online retail, giving online sellers a competitive advantage (ie, giving in-state retailers a competitive disadvantage).

Actually, it's a federal issue, not a state one.  The Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that a state cannot require an out-of-state retailer to collect and remit sales tax unless that retailer has a physical presence in the state.  It's why you'll pay sales tax on an online purchase a BN.com but not Amazon.com.  Barnes & Noble has physical stores in Florida.  The only states in which Amazon is required to collect and remit sales tax are those in which it has its headquarters (Washington) or distribution centers (e.g., Texas, South Carolina, although they got a two-year delay in SC as part of an agreement with the state).

Several states, most notably New York, passed laws creating "click through" nexus, claiming that independent New York based websites that linked to Amazon.com were enough to create a physical presence in the state.  Amazon has understandably challenged the constitutionality of these laws.  It will likely take a federal statute overruling the Supreme Court's decision in Quill in order to allow states to impose a sales tax collection requirement on online-only retailers like Amazon, Overstock, and increasingly eBay.  See, e.g., the Main Street Fairness Act (H.R. 2701, S. 1452)

In the meantime, Florida consumers that buy products from these retailers are legally required to pay use tax on them.  The form to submit the tax is linked here: http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/2010/dr15mo.pdf.  You can also pay the tax online.  Most people either don't know about this requirement or willingly avoid paying the tax since they assume they'll never be caught.

[Tacachale]

As far as Amazon goes, that's as much the state's fault as anything. Year after year they neglect to come up with an appropriate way to tax online retail, giving online sellers a competitive advantage (ie, giving in-state retailers a competitive disadvantage).

Actually, it's a federal issue, not a state one.  The Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that a state cannot require an out-of-state retailer to collect and remit sales tax unless that retailer has a physical presence in the state.  It's why you'll pay sales tax on an online purchase a BN.com but not Amazon.com.  Barnes & Noble has physical stores in Florida.  The only states in which Amazon is required to collect and remit sales tax are those in which it has its headquarters (Washington) or distribution centers (e.g., Texas, South Carolina, although they got a two-year delay in SC as part of an agreement with the state).

Several states, most notably New York, passed laws creating "click through" nexus, claiming that independent New York based websites that linked to Amazon.com were enough to create a physical presence in the state.  Amazon has understandably challenged the constitutionality of these laws.  It will likely take a federal statute overruling the Supreme Court's decision in Quill in order to allow states to impose a sales tax collection requirement on online-only retailers like Amazon, Overstock, and increasingly eBay.  See, e.g., the Main Street Fairness Act (H.R. 2701, S. 1452)

In the meantime, Florida consumers that buy products from these retailers are legally required to pay use tax on them.  The form to submit the tax is linked here: http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/2010/dr15mo.pdf.  You can also pay the tax online.  Most people either don't know about this requirement or willingly avoid paying the tax since they assume they'll never be caught.

It's both a federal and state issue. There are other ways the state could collect the tax under current federal law, as New York is doing. But yes, the feds do need to settle this as well, and that's becoming difficult as Amazon and company are spending tons of money lobbying them not to.

I suspect I'm not alone in having no idea that consumers were supposed to pay a tax themselves for online merchandise. That approaches the dumbest thing I've ever heard, and that's really saying something in Florida.