A friendly rebuttal

Vicbart is a friend of mine. One of his blog entries put some thoughts into my head.
I figured I'd put them here because I haven't posted in a coon's age, and it may help send some blog traffic his way.
For this post to make sense, you must first read this:
http://vbc3.blogspot.com/2008/01/twenty-years-fog-of-war.html

When fresh out of high school, I was an assistant manager for an Aquarium store in Willoughby.

We had 3 major sections:

1. Live Fish & Aquarium Animals
2. Aquaria / Tanks
3. Hard goods (Fish food, toys, decorations, etc.)

In these three departments, the profit expectations were this:

1. Live Fish - you might break even, if you're lucky.

2. Aquaria / Tanks- You sell just over cost. By the time a salesperson spent an hour explaining options to a new tank buyer and two other dummies loaded it into the car, you lost money on it (and we called this an aquarium store!)

3. Hard goods- Profit margin is so high on that peeing-cherub ornament and fish food that, after splitting profits among 4 owners, one had a Maserati and the other had a huge collection of ancient Bonsai trees worth more than my house today.

I don't have to explain to a retail lifer that Best Buy can take the hit on music CD sales to get people into the store. Once inside, customers will likely also buy a gadget that will bring in enough money to keep the lights on and pay all the stinky high-schoolers and keep the stockholders happy to boot.

I'm not aware of one "Aquarium store" that just sells aquaria. Who in the world has a shop full of glass, then bitches about another aquarium store with a hard goods and or live fish section?

This is exactly what record stores are and do. It may have worked in 1973, but business, she done changed.
It's funny how people think our government is a "living system", free to change at our whim and needs, but our retail paradigm has to stay static. And not just retail, every time we have a mini-recession and large, successful businesses cut personnel and learn to adapt to new ways, people who used to be paid by the old ways scream and yell that they want their jobs back when the economy comes back around.

Too bad. You should've learned to make more than buggy whips. We drive Buicks now.

THEN someone has to bring in the government or unions (or federal unions, no less).
I'm pretty sure the UAW insures that $500 out of the price of every new car made in Detroit goes to ancient, former buggy whip braiders or their families.
And the public is fine with this because they 1.) are dumb 2.) think that the automakers are getting screwed, not realizing that money is coming out of their own pockets because they 1.) are dumb

But no one is a friend of anyone who makes money I know, I know, profits are evil.

Is it really just price chosen over selection and service killing the small chain record store?

I still have to buy most of my music over the internet because that's where I can find it.
I know, I listen to people with 20 fans, not Tom Petty and Nirvana.

I like everyone at Record Den and Ultrasound, but I gotta say, I've wanted to punch out many a record store manager.
I remember a guy in Louisiana that threw a fit because I brought in a pile of discs to trade. He apparently had just processed too many that day. Really, I find that (with a few local exceptions) customer service seems to only happen online.

This is a conflict for me (well, what isn't?):

I don't like to give money to faceless people who live in the light box on my desk. Not for security, but for the simple reason that:
If I'm going to give you hard-earned cash, I need to be able to get my hands around your neck if need be. Or at least kick over a desk.
You see now that all government stuff like BMV and Welfare service is going online or phone service only.
We are learning as a society to poke each other with sharp sticks like dogs, while standing just beyond the length of each others leashes.

It's the downward spiral of human-human interactions you keep hearing about. It's invisible because its so incremental.

That said, my dealings with internet-based companies has shown that they understand customer service more than people I deal with in person. I now feel more comfortable putting my bank card information online than handing it to the surly flunky running the register at the local drug store, who won't end the argument with her baby-daddy on her cell phone to finish my transaction.

Lastly, my wife doesn't dislike Record Den, but she won't go in unless dragged because she doesn't want to stink like incense the rest of the day.

So, perhaps Wal-mart doesn't spew all of the evils in the world. Maybe they just smell better.

Oh, and I remember the Chris Elliot guy. That's funny as shit.