Hastings could close all stores

Super S
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Re: Hastings could close all stores

Post by Super S »

I wonder if we will even have a national bookstore chain left in ten years. Seriously. Look what happened to many of the big video store chains as well as music store chains. The internet has really changed everything.
wnetmacman
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Re: Hastings could close all stores

Post by wnetmacman »

Super S wrote:I wonder if we will even have a national bookstore chain left in ten years. Seriously. Look what happened to many of the big video store chains as well as music store chains. The internet has really changed everything.
Hastings wasn't a national chain. They only had 143 stores in what could best be described as mostly rural areas, with a few urban ones thrown in for good measure. Their product mix was, at best, weird. They didn't really concentrate on one area, and even when they did, it was still hit and miss. That was their weakness; you never really knew what they were good at.
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Re: Hastings could close all stores

Post by mbz321 »

Super S wrote:I wonder if we will even have a national bookstore chain left in ten years. Seriously. Look what happened to many of the big video store chains as well as music store chains. The internet has really changed everything.
I don't really think that is a bad thing, really. The only national bookstore chain left is Barnes & Noble, and they aren't really doing so hot either...I give it less than 5 years for them. Although independent bookstores have made a resurgence and are able to really provide better service in their communities. I just wonder how fye is still in business.
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Re: Hastings could close all stores

Post by pseudo3d »

wnetmacman wrote:
Super S wrote:I wonder if we will even have a national bookstore chain left in ten years. Seriously. Look what happened to many of the big video store chains as well as music store chains. The internet has really changed everything.
Hastings wasn't a national chain. They only had 143 stores in what could best be described as mostly rural areas, with a few urban ones thrown in for good measure. Their product mix was, at best, weird. They didn't really concentrate on one area, and even when they did, it was still hit and miss. That was their weakness; you never really knew what they were good at.
Yeah, Hastings had some weird distribution. It was based in north Texas, but stores as far away as Idaho. They didn't have any stores in huge metro areas...they had two in Bryan-College Station until last summer (when one was closed), that I would guess was one of their larger markets, as well as one each in Conroe and Huntsville. I think they had one in Beaumont too.

Their merchandise mix was also weird, like wnetmacman describes. About a third of the stores were dedicated to movies and movie rentals, smaller sections for music (including vinyl records), and less than a third for books. They didn't have nearly the complete merchandise mix as Barnes & Noble or even the mall-based bookstores did (or at least that was my impression). They always had some novelty items near the registers (ramune, five-pound gummy bears) but that started to stretch beyond into center store. There would be a front-end with toys, shirts, and collectibles from movies, often from cult-classic movies (like Spaceballs). Like I said, they started to carry a lot more novelty items like a beer bong or a stripper pole kit. I think that may have been the extent of it, they didn't carry more of the racy items like sex dice or anything more akin to an adult shop. I should go try to take pictures of the remaining store so you guys can see it for yourself.
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Re: Hastings could close all stores

Post by Doylenova »

[Please note this post was edited by the Forum Administrator to remove personal attacks. Please remember, while this is an open discussion on current retail news, personal attacks against other members are never tolerated. Thank you!]

Calling Hastings a "national chain", I'm sure, only meant to imply that it was located in several states. Does a store or bank or park or whatever have to be in every state before it is referred to as "national"? I don't know... Secondly, is there a "worst" when referring to "rural"?? And, what is so bad about it? There may be more people living in big cities, but there are certainly more small towns and, Heaven forbid, "rural areas" covering a larger total area than cities do. These people have rights and needs, too, and suffer when they lose one of the few chains, completely "national" or not, that bothered to serve them.
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