A lot of brick & mortar stores deserve to fail

Tell the truth. You still bought from O'Reilly's.

I did go into a board game store a few months back. Owner showed me a boardgame that looked cool but it was $120 fricking dollars. So I Google and it goes for $50 new online. I ask the owner and he’s just like “we don’t compete with online retail,”

For years, and still today, the restaurant business is the one that fails the most. But for folks that want to be in some sort of business, it may be the only one that doesn’t have online competition.

That's because every "business owner" thinks they're suppose to live in a $1M mcmansions and drive Range Rovers while paying their employees slave wages and charging customers 300-400% markup. They have no concept of volume over time. They want it now!

I know it's not real reality but like the HGTV shows my wife watches where a lesbian couple is shopping for a lakeside home in the Catskills. One is a writer of children's books and the other owns a dog walking business. Their budget is $1.1M. Really?

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the other owns a dog walking business.

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I bet this makes bank in NYC.

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Black Americans, who are 30% more likely to die from it than white Americans. This disparity is primarily driven by higher rates of uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, and obesity.

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.... in all fairness

WTF did this come from?

Past life I worked Sales role for National Accounts - the Auto Channel is baffling.

Their margin expectations are unreal (70-80%), often list above MSRP and constantly nag mfg’s for markdown $, promo support funds, expect full margin product lift on annual assortment refresh. It’s musical chairs they using suppliers to generate an extra turn.

Root cause? Products only turn 2-3x per YEAR. Some items even less. Obviously oil & consumables turn much faster. So, they “have” to be margin hogs.

Autozone & others are same. Take care of their senior employees, though. Buyers and up get outstanding equity & bonus packages. Would blow your mind.

All that said - of all retail channels Auto was by far the biggest headache and lowest $’s. They treat vendors like it’s a privilege to do biz with them. Reality? Very few actually want to.

Agree w/ OP sentiment.

/rant.

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I went to my local O'Reillys

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My wife's highlander wouldn't start last week, and I figured it was the battery due to it throwing headlight malfunction lights the day prior (common known thing). I brought the battery to the O'Reilly's around the corner to have the battery tested since they offer free testing. Big mistake.

The girl at the counter brought the tester out and was having trouble figuring out which battery terminal to put the test leads on. I let her know the positive goes to the postive,and the negative to the negative. She seriously asked me, "Yeah, but how do I know which one is the positive?" After I let her know that the terminals are labeled with a + and -, she hooked it up. All she could tell me was the battery was below 12 volts. No shite, that's why it would't start the vehicle. I asked her if she could tell me if the battery is good or bad, if it had a bad cell, etc., and she said she didn't know how to work the tester like that.

I purchased a battery and went on my way. The battery was the issue and no problems now. From now on, I'll make a drive and go somewhere worth a crap. If you are going to offer crappy service, at least have good prices which they don't. I paid for convenience.

I don't mind paying a little extra to help a local business or neighbor. I'm fortunate to be able to contribute to my community and not by from some yankee online.