Brandsmart leaving Brookside/Waldo, kinda sad...

GRID · Post by **GRID** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 1:16 pm

I grew up with that place. So now there are no major electronics stores in the core right?

KCforumer · Post by **KCforumer** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 4:46 pm

Wow, I didn't realize there is a Brandsmart in Waldo.

KCK · Post by **KCK** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 8:46 am

This isn't just a Brandsmart, it is the first Brandsmart. Funny how Overland Park has 2 Brandsmarts and KCMO will be reduced to just one at Metro North. They claim to be moving, so where are they moving to? Lenexa? Olathe? Lees Ssummit? No one wants to be in the actual city anymore.

http://www.brandsmartkc.com/NS/ArticleD ... ticleID=26

Post by **dangerboy** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 9:02 am

That very article answers your question. It says they are moving the inventory to the remaining locations. The headline kinda sounds like the store is moving, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Slappy the Wang · Post by **Slappy the Wang** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 11:42 am

GRID wrote:I grew up with that place. So now there are no major electronics stores in the core right?

Damn, where will you get ripped off now?

DiggityDawg · Post by **DiggityDawg** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 2:05 pm

Supposedly, this is some type of "we lost our lease" deal.

I worked for this company for a couple years...believe me, folks - it's a wonder ANY of their locations are still open. Most poorly run business I've ever worked for.

The Summit · Post by **The Summit** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 4:26 pm

Well they are making a big deal out of closing the Waldo store yet I was in Independence yesterday and that store (one of the newest and largest) has quietly closed as well.

Brandsmart is in trouble, and think NFM and Ult Elect dealt them a final blow.

KCK · Post by **KCK** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 12:45 am

The Summit wrote:Well they are making a big deal out of closing the Waldo store yet I was in Independence yesterday and that store (one of the newest and largest) has quietly closed as well.

Brandsmart is in trouble, and think NFM and Ult Elect dealt them a final blow.

The Independence store isn't new. i hung out there 10 years ago at a car stereo show. The newest store is in Overland Park.

GRID · Post by **GRID** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 1:39 am

DeadManWalking wrote:
The Summit wrote:Well they are making a big deal out of closing the Waldo store yet I was in Independence yesterday and that store (one of the newest and largest) has quietly closed as well.

Brandsmart is in trouble, and think NFM and Ult Elect dealt them a final blow.
The Independence store isn't new. i hung out there 10 years ago at a car stereo show. The newest store is in Overland Park.

Brandsmart built a new store in Indepedence. It's over by 24 hour fitness, Garden Ridge and Dicks on 39th. The old store has been razed and is now a HyVee.

TheDude · Post by **TheDude** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 10:46 am

most companies that say "we lost our lease" implies that they were struggling w/ sales and couldnt cover the nut. this one goes out to the brandsmart crew, thanks for the memories and ripping me off with a $50 surge protector....time for me to fly...

She packed my bag last night
pre-flight,
Zero Hour, nine A.M.
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then.

I miss the earth so much,
I miss my wife.
It's lonely out in space
on such a timeless flight.

And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home.
Oh, no, no, no,
I'm a rocket man,
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone.

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids,
in fact it's cold as hell.
And there's no one there to raise them if you did.

And all these science,
I don't understand.
It's just my job, five days a week,
a rocket man.

And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home.
Oh, no, no, no,
I'm a rocket man,
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone.

GuyInLenexa · Post by **GuyInLenexa** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 12:54 pm

It is simply a retail glut. Just wait, as Wal-Mart Neighborhood stores grow in KC they will create a much greater war. You will see Price Chopper, Hen House, and HyVee closing stores.
Electronics have too many retail options from large companies for local stores to compete. The consumer of today has their loyalty bound to what deal is best for them.
It is a sad thing to see monoplies dominate unbridled.
On a positive point, I am sure that someone will fill the vacant spot. I hate that a lot of the antique stores in Waldo have closed also.
Love Waldo, hate the pavement of Wornall!

KCK · Post by **KCK** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 11:39 am

Wal-mart neighborhood markets aren't competition for most grocery stores. For one, they use prepackaged meat. Price Chopper employs butchers that cut the meats. The result is better meat at Price Chopper. The thing that will really hurt grocery stores is that wal-mart doesn't require a stupid ass shopping card to get good sale prices. The other grocers are idiots with these card things.

The variety of food in a neighborhood market is nowhere near a full HyVee, or a Price Chopper. For example a certain brand of lunch meat that I enjoy has about 10 varieties. All 10 are at the local Price Chopper, while the neighborhood market on 91st and Metcalf only has 2.

Right now neighborhood markets are just an experiment in wal-mart, kind of like the old failed Hypermarts. If they don't work well in the very limited test markets(Overland Park has 2 of the 60 in the US) then they won't open any more. The good news is the size, they are much smaller than the Supercenters at less than 40,000 square feet.

GuyInLenexa · Post by **GuyInLenexa** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 8:18 am

I know that in Texas, we have a lot of the neighborhood stores and they have been there for several years.
Even with pre-package meat, the Wal-Mart stores have forced closings of such stores in Dallas as Minyards and even some Kroger stores. There has been a lot of press about it. H.E.B. in southern Texas is feeling the competition.
It is easy to see why, like you said, DMW, they are smaller, nicely laid out, and the prices are great. Even the pre packaged meat is equal to HyVee or anyone else.
I shop there a lot myself, in fact, I usually stop at your store all the time.
As they expand some stores that have rested on their laurels will close.
A tragedy in some ways, but that is business.

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