Another Cold, Hard Look at the Pillaging of Newspapers

[DanOregon]

Once Walmart went coast to coast and paid cheaper rent by staking their stores to the outskirts of towns instead of more expensive malls it was just a matter of time. Maybe if they invested heavily in the Internet and were Amazon before Amazon, but with smaller local outlets to pick up the stuff you ordered - they might have had a chance.

 

[doctorquant]

Maybe if [Sears had emphasized] smaller local outlets to pick up the stuff you ordered - they might have had a chance.

Sears was doing this extensively in the 60s and 70s ...

 

[wicked]

I remember Sears did a big revamp around 30 years ago. The whole thing was they were reducing focus on name-brand merchandise and instead focus on price. They seemed to fall flat after that.

 

[LanceyHoward]

A lot of papers did fold even in the "cash cow" days (Dallas Times-Herald, Baltimore News-American, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Knoxville Journal, Birmingham Post-Herald, Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, etc.).

In somewhat of an oddity, the tiny town of Crawfordsville, Ind. (pop. 16,000), still publishes two newspapers (one Tuesday through Saturday, the other Monday through Saturday with a Sunday digital edition).

I believe that Trenton. New Jersey and York. Pennsylvania still have two dailies. The others are Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and whoever else I might be leaving out. But the demise of the afternoon newspaper was truly astounding.

 

[LanceyHoward]

This. Basically what's destroyed Sears

Sears in its heyday absolutely owned the appliances and hardware (Craftsman had tools owned the market). But a mall is a more expensive location than a big box and various stores took away that business, leaving Sears with aoft goods, which had never been a particular strength. Then Target and Kohl's under priced mall stores on soft goods and Sears was on life support, as wase virtually every other mall retailer.

 

[wicked]

I believe that Trenton. New Jersey and York. Pennsylvania still have two dailies. The others are Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and whoever else I might be leaving out. But the demise of the afternoon newspaper was truly astounding.

Philly.
Twin Cities.
Albuquerque did until several (?) years ago.
Baton Rogue puts out a New Orleans edition.

 

[Bud_Bundy]

Sears in its heyday absolutely owned the appliances and hardware (Craftsman had tools owned the market). But a mall is a more expensive location than a big box and various stores took away that business, leaving Sears with aoft goods, which had never been a particular strength. Then Target and Kohl's under priced mall stores on soft goods and Sears was on life support, as wase virtually every other mall retailer.

One of the Sears in our area is located in what used to be a thriving enclosed mall. Great when it opened with 2 other large anchor stores, a movie theatre and tons of other stores. But as the population moved north and an even larger mall opened on the north end of town, the mall where Sears was located began losing stores. Trouble was, while others leased their stores, Sears owned its building. Now the place has been repurposed as an office complex with a couple of small eating places and not much else .... except for Sears.

 

[Fran Curci]

I believe that Trenton. New Jersey and York. Pennsylvania still have two dailies. The others are Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and whoever else I might be leaving out. But the demise of the afternoon newspaper was truly astounding.

Does anyone buy the Washington Examiner? Oh,wait: I guess the Washington Times still exists, sort of.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Does anyone buy the Washington Examiner? Oh,wait: I guess the Washington Times still exists, sort of.

The Examiner ceased print publication a few years ago. And, it was free anyway. Distributed at Metro stops and mostly unsolicited at homes in rich neighborhoods.

 

[daytonadan1983]

Salt Lake has the Trib and the Deseret News....

 

[Twirling Time]

Once Walmart went coast to coast and paid cheaper rent by staking their stores to the outskirts of towns instead of more expensive malls it was just a matter of time. Maybe if they invested heavily in the Internet and were Amazon before Amazon, but with smaller local outlets to pick up the stuff you ordered - they might have had a chance.

Sears was doing this extensively in the 60s and 70s ...

And well into the 80s. I used to go to the Sears outlet store 3 blocks from my house and schlepp home stuff my mom would order via catalogue.

 

[MNgremlin]

Philly.
Twin Cities.
Albuquerque did until several (?) years ago.
Baton Rogue puts out a New Orleans edition.

This may surprise some, but Minneapolis (Star Tribune) and St. Paul (Pioneer Press) are two different cities that make up the Twin Cities. Thus, probably shouldn't be in the discussion of cities with multiple dailies.