Stuff Americans have cut down on buying

[kelroy55]

Interesting article

Guns, Soda, Cereal, Bread Among Things Americans Stopped Buying - 1

[MadMonk]

I see that gourmet cupcakes are officially dead now too. About time.

[Just the facts]

Just for a little cross-thread analysis, I found this interesting:

In the first quarter of 2014, the guns-and-ammo-focused Sportsman’s Warehouse retail chain saw comparable stores sales drop 18%, while gun sales at Cabela’s fell 22%.

OKC just gave them $3.5 million based on the idea that they will bring new business to OKC, but Cabela themselves said their rapid growth was due in large part to increased gun sales (and the numbers they provided OKC to receive the money were from 2012).

[kelroy55]

Just for a little cross-thread analysis, I found this interesting:

OKC just gave them $3.5 million based on the idea that they will bring new business to OKC, but Cabela themselves said their rapid growth was due in large part to increased gun sales (and the numbers they provided OKC to receive the money were from 2012).

A corporation lying to the government to get over on taxes? Say it isn't so.

[bluedogok]

I see that gourmet cupcakes are officially dead now too. About time.

It's not dead, the corporatization of cupcakes may be dead but there are plenty of independent shops that are doing fine. That in and of itself is a good thing. Any time the profit takers come in and dilute a business that is primarily based on art then you know it has matured to the tipping point.

[Chadanth]

I see that gourmet cupcakes are officially dead now too. About time.

Not according to my wife and my waistline.

[RadicalModerate]

Just watched a Before and After episode of Antiques Roadshow.
Apparently Americans have stopped paying outrageous prices for "art" and "artifacts" that are both ugly and overpriced.
(no reference, indirect or otherwise, to what used to be "The Mummers/Stage Center" Mausoleum/Monument implied nor intended.)

Tee Shirt Idea (for the XXXL crowd):

Place no Trust in Trust Fund Children
Who Open Designer Cupcake Shoppes
[insert foto of frou-frou cupcake]

What were those incredibly bizarre and vaguely nasty little bits of "ice cream" that were being hawked at Malls for awhile?
"Space Dots" . . . or whatever? I quit buying them right after the first time I bought them.
I only say "Space Dots" on account of they were the Astronaut Version of Ice Cream as compared to Orange Juice that was once called "Tang".

(wow . . . that guy has listened to way too much Jim Gaffigan . . . and that makes me uncomfortable . . .)

Personally . . . I've cut back on shopping for dining pleasure at Sonic.

[mugofbeer]

Ironic you mention those Ice cream dots. Dippin' Dots was bought out of bankruptcy by an OKC company. The same company just bought a chain of gormet cupcake shops out of bankruptcy.

[Mel]

Ironic you mention those Ice cream dots. Dippin' Dots was bought out of bankruptcy by an OKC company. The same company just bought a chain of gormet cupcake shops out of bankruptcy.

It's the corn syrup cartel.

[RadicalModerate]

Ironic you mention those Ice cream dots. Dippin' Dots was bought out of bankruptcy by an OKC company. The same company just bought a chain of gormet cupcake shops out of bankruptcy.

I read that same article in the tree-based print version of the news.
I could only shake my head and think: "If you're so rich . . . How come you ain't smart?"
(the only answer I could come up with was . . . Trust Fund Babies are Running the Nursery. =)

[Bellaboo]

Ironic you mention those Ice cream dots. Dippin' Dots was bought out of bankruptcy by an OKC company. The same company just bought a chain of gormet cupcake shops out of bankruptcy.

Wasn't this the owners of Chapparel Energy ?

[RadicalModerate]

Wasn't this the owners of Chapparel Energy ?

I can almost imagine the meetings involved in that decision . . . .

"How 'bout we call 'em Muffcakes and drizzle some Space Dots on 'em?"
"Yeah . . . Designer muffintops with the stems throwed away . . ."
"Right! And for the retro angle we worsh 'em down with Tang on tap!"
"Dang . . . OKC is only rated at the next to the worst in dietary habits . . . We gotta go for the bottom."

(i keed . . . i keed . . . but i've been to some meetings like that.)

Personally, I wish that Americans would stop buying the BS videoed into their heads every time they access any form of media from television to radio to cellphones to facebook to twitter . . . especially while operating an automobile. 99% of it is attempting to steer people the wrong way.

[Snowman]

In the first quarter of 2014, the guns-and-ammo-focused Sportsman’s Warehouse retail chain saw comparable stores sales drop 18%, while gun sales at Cabela’s fell 22%

Wasn't a lot of the increased sales of guns in the last several years rushes, where people at various points were afraid the Obama administration was going to really restrict gun laws. If so then it is not surprising that demand would be down now since the size of the population interested in having a gun has probably not changed much and anyone that really wanted one probably already now owns a relatively recent model.

[RadicalModerate]

"There are lies . . . There are Damned Lies . . . and, then, there are Statistics."
(c/o Mark "The Artist Formerly Know as Sam" Twain)

btw: I hope that the Obama administration does "restrict gun laws" . . . but that ain't gonna happen. =)

[Bill Robertson]

May again be proof I'm not an average consumer. I buy razors, we buy white bread and at least one box of cereal every week. I recently bought a new gun and in June bought a Miata convertible. So 50% of the things other are not buying I am. I love it!

[Just the facts]

Wasn't a lot of the increased sales of guns in the last several years rushes, where people at various points were afraid the Obama administration was going to really restrict gun laws. If so then it is not surprising that demand would be down now since the size of the population interested in having a gun has probably not changed much and anyone that really wanted one probably already now owns a relatively recent model.

Yes, as was pointed out in the article. Guns sales had no where to go but down from an all-time high.

I read that same article in the tree-based print version of the news.
I could only shake my head and think: "If you're so rich . . . How come you ain't smart?"
(the only answer I could come up with was . . . Trust Fund Babies are Running the Nursery. =)

One thing I have come to learn is that people who became rich in the oil patch suck at almost everything else, especially the one who 'struck it rich' by simply drilling as many holes in the ground as they could until they hit something. Hunting deer with a .50 caliber Vulcan cannon doesn't make you a good shot just because you can hit 50 deer with it.

[PennyQuilts]

Wasn't a lot of the increased sales of guns in the last several years rushes, where people at various points were afraid the Obama administration was going to really restrict gun laws. If so then it is not surprising that demand would be down now since the size of the population interested in having a gun has probably not changed much and anyone that really wanted one probably already now owns a relatively recent model.

The latest thriving gun market is women but I don't know how big it is.