Comments on: Is It A Good Or Bad Thing That So Many Companies Are Going Out Of Business?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:28:51 +0000

I personally wish Congress and the Senate would go out of business, as well as the IRS. Do you realize how much money we would have if the government would keep their sticky fingers out of the pie. We could pay off the national debt in about a week just by stopping all the perks to the heads of our government, i.e., private jets, multiple helicopters, etc. Oh, well, two more years for Congress and 1349 more days til the next election.

By: Debt Relief Geek

Debt Relief Geek — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:28:34 +0000

I also feel for those employees whose companies had been closed. They don’t have jobs anymore and their families had been relying so much on them. I just hope they already found a new job and is not suffering from a terrible financial problem.

Anyways, if they really are they can just seek the advise of some debt relief experts also.

By: TStrump

TStrump — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:02:19 +0000

It’s bad for the employees but a natural part of capitalism.
It will force inefficient companies to get better.

By: Eric J. Nisall

Eric J. Nisall — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:50:12 +0000

@ David:

Yeah, but to what degree I don’t know. Originally, only the corporation-owned restaurants were closed, while the franchisee-owned locations remained opened. Guess that could have been seen as a good thing for the franchisees as they were getting the traffic based on the name recognition but didn’t have to pay the fees or royalties since there was no longer an entity to pay them to. That sure was short-lived.

By: MoneyMateKate

MoneyMateKate — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:30:21 +0000

I’d like to see chain stores shrink rather than disappear. I suspect many of them took advantage of easy credit to expand beyond the realities of their sector.

Not sorry to see Sharper Image disappear…I always felt most of their rather expensive items were “as seen on TV” crap in upmarket packaging.

By: Cathy Quik

Cathy Quik — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:29:58 +0000

I think you hit the nail on the head. This correction is long overdue. The survivors from the mess will be stronger and better at maintaining their own health.

It is sad to see things collapsing, but there isn’t any other choice.

By: Krista

Krista — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:53:08 +0000

Steve & Barry’s didn’t go completely out of business. They closed a bunch of stores, though.

By: Ashley @ Wide Open Wallet

Ashley @ Wide Open Wallet — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:07:36 +0000

I have to see it as a good thing. It’s clearing out the market of poorly run companies and leaving room for those companies that are running properly. A thinning of the herd. When things get moving again there will be room for companies who are able to be competitive.

By: david

david — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:35:12 +0000

Bennigan’s is back to life? I really thought they disappeared for good!

By: Eric J. Nisall

Eric J. Nisall — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:05:57 +0000

I think the list does seem a little short, but I can’t recall the specific companies. I do know however that Bennigan’s (along with Steak & Ale) and CompUSA were purchased and subsequently re-opened. The restaurants were bought by a private equity firm and began re-opening as little as a month after the purchase. CompUSA was purchased by SysteMax and repackaged as a physical representation of it’s Tiger Direct online retailer. Circuit City has been having problems for years, which is why they stopped selling home appliances, and there has been talk of that company going private as well, but nothing has developed as of yet.

It’s kind of hard to say whether or not these failures are a good thing, since competition is good for the consumer, but there are several reasons for each of those failures. Some just were managed poorly (Circuit City) while others (Linens ‘N Things) are in a highly competitive market which was hit hard by the economy. It’s probably a little too early to tell, but in the near-term it’s closer to a bad thing since all of those people are out of work when the unemployment rate was already high and the economy was weak. Only time will tell I guess….