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Or, damn near every household bought a new TV during the pandemic lockdowns using their stimulus checks and now no one needs a new TV. I think Walmart's story

Or, damn near every household bought a new TV during the pandemic lockdowns using their stimulus checks and now no one needs a new TV. I think Walmart's story in particular is one of stupidly bad demand forecasting.

njcgbc 4y ago
Fast food is reporting the same thing, McDonald's put out a report a few days ago, Yum! Brands is yet to report results for the quarter but similar results are expected. Target had a similar report to Walmart. It is mostly discretionary spending that is down; Wal-Mart reported the largest fall in apparel iirc, but demand is demand. One would expect discretionary spending to fall first, and hopefully it stops there. Again I apologize for not providing a direct citation due to my dumb mobile browser but these are days-old news stories and it should be easy to confirm
- rustybelt 4y ago
  I know I've cut back on fast food because both product and service quality have declined dramatically, likely due to staffing shortages. Long wait times, cold food, and incorrect orders have pushed me to the point of staying away. It's a weird time, and it's hard to untangle all these additional factors. That said, I'm sure higher prices are having an impact as well.
  - InefficientRed 4y ago
    Fast food is pricing itself out of the market. I think it's a great example of a sector that failed to innovate and is now incapable of providing a product worth buying at prices that are profitable. McDonalds et al. probably should've been investing a lot more in automating their kitchens. The fact that a huge percent of locations -- and all drive-thrus -- still use humans for the ordering process is, similarly, inexcusable. Unless the US massively increases its low-skilled immigration quotes, robotics firms will be the FAANG equivalents of the 2020s-2030s.
    - whatshisface 4y ago
      If McDonalds can't afford to pay a living wage at the local cost of living, nobody will immigrate to work for them.
      - InefficientRed 4y ago
        You can fit 3 generations in a single family home in an American suburb of a mid-sized city, and half the world's population would either (a) consider that a QoL improvement or at least (b) put up with it for a while to remit back home. For all the doom and gloom in the USA, it's still an incredibly rich country. To be clear: I'm not making a moral statement here. This is a statement of fact, not a statement of ethical preference.
        whatshisface 4y ago
        Can three people working at McDonalds own a single family home in an American suburb?
        roflyear 4y ago
        Three families can....
        InefficientRed 4y ago
        Someone working low-paid hourly wage work can probably make $20K. A few siblings + their parents = 5 people = $100K. Stagger availability schedules so there's always someone home with the kids, and share vehicles. Suburb of top-tier cities? No. Cheapest suburb of a midwestern city? Absolutely. Again, not saying it's reasonable. Just that it's possible.
        whatshisface 4y ago
        So you argument essentially is that economic conditions dictate that within a few decade, there will be no restaurants in major cities.

njcgbc 4y ago

Fast food is reporting the same thing, McDonald's put out a report a few days ago, Yum! Brands is yet to report results for the quarter but similar results are expected. Target had a similar report to Walmart. It is mostly discretionary spending that is down; Wal-Mart reported the largest fall in apparel iirc, but demand is demand. One would expect discretionary spending to fall first, and hopefully it stops there. Again I apologize for not providing a direct citation due to my dumb mobile browser but these are days-old news stories and it should be easy to confirm

rustybelt 4y ago
I know I've cut back on fast food because both product and service quality have declined dramatically, likely due to staffing shortages. Long wait times, cold food, and incorrect orders have pushed me to the point of staying away. It's a weird time, and it's hard to untangle all these additional factors. That said, I'm sure higher prices are having an impact as well.
- InefficientRed 4y ago
  Fast food is pricing itself out of the market. I think it's a great example of a sector that failed to innovate and is now incapable of providing a product worth buying at prices that are profitable. McDonalds et al. probably should've been investing a lot more in automating their kitchens. The fact that a huge percent of locations -- and all drive-thrus -- still use humans for the ordering process is, similarly, inexcusable. Unless the US massively increases its low-skilled immigration quotes, robotics firms will be the FAANG equivalents of the 2020s-2030s.
  - whatshisface 4y ago
    If McDonalds can't afford to pay a living wage at the local cost of living, nobody will immigrate to work for them.
    - InefficientRed 4y ago
      You can fit 3 generations in a single family home in an American suburb of a mid-sized city, and half the world's population would either (a) consider that a QoL improvement or at least (b) put up with it for a while to remit back home. For all the doom and gloom in the USA, it's still an incredibly rich country. To be clear: I'm not making a moral statement here. This is a statement of fact, not a statement of ethical preference.
      - whatshisface 4y ago
        Can three people working at McDonalds own a single family home in an American suburb?
        roflyear 4y ago
        Three families can....
        InefficientRed 4y ago
        Someone working low-paid hourly wage work can probably make $20K. A few siblings + their parents = 5 people = $100K. Stagger availability schedules so there's always someone home with the kids, and share vehicles. Suburb of top-tier cities? No. Cheapest suburb of a midwestern city? Absolutely. Again, not saying it's reasonable. Just that it's possible.
        whatshisface 4y ago
        So you argument essentially is that economic conditions dictate that within a few decade, there will be no restaurants in major cities.