10 Brands That May Disappear in 2011
 

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-bud...appear-in-2011
Last time I read this I think Blockbuster, RadioShack, and Kia were still on it.

I don't want my phone company to die. :(

Yeah i peeped this. Man looks like i'm gonna be going back to Verizon... :(

I guess I didn't realize T-Mobile was doing that poorly...

I was getting a haircut the first weekend after I moved to PHX, and a group of women were getting pedis behind me. I couldn't help overhearing their conversation. Apparently one of them worked for Blockbuster. She went on and on about what a great company Blockbuster was. She thought that they'd never go out of business because they sold everything! I just sat there chuckling to myself thinking she'd be looking for a new job within a year.

:(

Why would you find it funny that someone might be losing their job in this economy? Blockbuster has a lot of retail stores across the country, if they were all to close it would add a couple thousand people to the list of unemployed.

Merrill Lynch? wow.

Since they were bought by Bank of America, supposedly they will become Bank of America Wealth Management Group or something like that. They are not going out of business, just getting a name change and a corporate makeover.

i was wondering the same thing....

Where do you get pedis that a blockbuster employee also does? I hope you have found a better place and not one of those Asian owned nail salons!

What's the matter, Earp? Scared to post under your own name?

Unfortunately Netflix and RedBox have almost massacred Blockbuster. The same will happen eventually for other things as well, especially since the Internet is killing everything, TV/Music.

May fungus find its way under your nails.

Ohhhhh this is Earp? I was wondering why all the posts were so hostile and foolish.

T-Mobile? Whaaaat? No wonder I had to pay to get a replacement phone. Sheesh. lol.

I am assuming, but I believe it to be true and since it's a perp, might as well.

He makes his forum look REALLY good, doesn't he.

Seriously!!! lol

I knew T-Mobile was number 4, but I didn't think it mattered that much. I also thought that their presence was growing, not dwindling.

But I guess it'd be cool if T-Mo stayed alive and absorbed Virgin, though... didn't really know VM still existed until I saw them branded all over Lady Gaga's Telephone music video.

To my surprise there's a whole shit load of companies listed that I actually thought were doing well.

I'm surprised to see T-Mobile on the list. Unfortunately, I'm not particularly surprised by Blockbuster or Readers Digest being listed.

This made me cringe. I'm hoping you just worded this really poorly and didn't literally laugh at someone's potential misfortune.

:( Dr. Angel's post really bothered me.

It's okay, we all have our cringe worthy moments on and off the Internet. ;)

Oh please...I didn't find it humorous that she would lose her job but that she thought Blockbuster was such a strong company. Learn to read posts.

Since it seems several people were stunned by this post, let me clarify. The woman was in middle management with blockbuster. She went on and on about the company for about 15 minutes about how strong the company was. I do not find humor in her misfortune, just in her complete lack of understanding of her companies financial situation, especially since this was not a teenager working the desk at a store.

I got what you meant. Not really sure what caused the uproar.

But I remember working at Blockbuster years ago. The company treated employees and customers like shit and had a "too big to fail" mentality. Good riddance.

Thanks, K_S...I'm not that kind of mean. Mean yes, not vicious!

Where's the uproar?

Her point was extremely clear until this part "I just sat there chuckling to myself thinking she'd be looking for a new job within a year." That's what people are responding to. Add water and stir.

Yeah and that's why people responded as they did.

If you were known to be a vicious and heartless username, people would've just cussed you out instead of expressing shock, frowny faces, and ThetaDancer's attempt at giving you the benefit of the doubt. ;)

I appreciate it, that's why I clarified.:D

For the record....

Middle management employees tend not to truly be informed of the financial situations of the companies they work for. :)

You worked for the corporate office or one of the locations? That makes a big difference.

I have my list of companies that I hate. However, within the context of this thread, "good riddance" for even the crappiest and most exploitative of companies should not ignore all of the jobs that will be lost. That's definitely nothing to celebrate.

But as an educated person, she should be able see what every other educated person in the country can see... Blockbuster is in trouble.

I worked at a location, but in Dallas (where corporate HQ is located). My main group of friends at the time were in middle management, so in hanging out with them, I heard about what was going on.

To the second part -- of course I don't want to run around screaming "Hahaha, you bitches are unemployed now!" but I saw in 2003 that BBV was tanking. If a retail employee can see that the company is going downhill, someone in middle management should be able to see it.

Pretty much.

Exactly. They're in a lot of trouble, and copying netflix and working out deals with studios to delay redbox/netflix releases will NOT save them.

We only have Family Video left in town (and the chain started here) and they're great for people w/o netflix who just want something to watch (preferably in the back catalog, with a free kids movie!) Otherwise, even the last hold out grocery store with a rental service just got their brand new redbox.

Don't attempt to cash that check. A lot of things that we think are common observation and knowledge are not. :)

I don't really know Blockbuster's financial situation but I always guessed that they are struggling because of the economy, Netflix, Redbox, the Internet, and OnDemand channels. At the same time, I don't have the inside scoop of what Blockbuster is doing to buffer the effects of these things. They certainly aren't the first or last company to have to tackle such issues--other companies have survived. I know people who still go to Blockbuster because Redbox and OnDemand really suck sometimes. That may or may not represent a larger trend.

I knew it was a "some of my bestfriends are..." thing. ;)

At the same time, people in middle management are sometimes fed more promises of success than retail employees.

Long story short, the economy is complex all around and if observations and solutions were so simple, some companies wouldn't be struggling as they are. I know some companies wish they could find solutions including getting overpaid corporate employees to sacrifice some of their salary so the company can redistribute its wealth and resources.

Companies are also able to pull the wool over their employee's eyes, in terms of the stability of the company. I've heard a lot of "I was completely blindsided when they laid off half the company (or more), but in retrospect, it should have been clear to me" type of stories.

I've found this to be particularly true in the home office of corporations.

Touche.

I think I may have come off a little cold because I do know BBV's financial situation. It's been on a steady decline for years because, as I stated earlier, the company had a "too big to fail" mentality.

While true, BB has pretty well documented problems both at the in the store policy level and at the corporate making profits level. The stuff's in the paper and online.

I think this list is exaggerated though, I don't think BPs going anywhere and I'd be surprised if T-Mobile bows out. (And obviously BB made it another year). I think "The Shack" will be out soon as well unless they manage to actually rebrand themselves and be useful.

This is exactly what I'm talking about, though. Home offices sometimes have a way of dismissing news reports, online reports, etc. that portray the office in a negative light while reassuring employees that it's not that bad, their job is stable, and everything's going to be better next year. Not all employees fall for it, but a surprising number do, and these are educated people.

It's easy for those of us on the outside of the company to say "oh we can see the writing on the wall" but the simple fact that there are people who still work for the company and haven't jumped ship yet speaks to the theory that it's not so clear from the inside.

Possibly, but if you're willingly deluding yourself, isn't it your own fault? The times I've been working for companies at risk of disappearing it was more of a low level worry, where you're looking for other jobs on the side without over-stressing about what you can't change. But no matter how the positive talk came down, when cost-cutting measures were implemented we knew why and what it meant.

I suspect that they'd want to switch jobs but a) are hoping to make it to retirement, b) hoping for a severance package and/or c) can't find anything else right now, or d) retail is retail failing business or not.

I don't know, I just don't think your job should ever have the same amount of affect or spin on your thoughts as like... (bad analogy) an abusive partner.

Exactly and "falling for it" includes the team building (or whatever some companies call it) efforts to get everyone to remain positive and fight until the end.

Even when the company's failure is clear from the inside, most employees can't (shouldn't, won't...) jump ship and be a complete naysayer until their other employment prospects come through.

Maybe she knows something you don't and has faith in her company. Maybe she feels BB can compete over RedBox and NetFlix, maybe BB has a new business model they are rolling out and she's excited for it. Maybe shes a single mother of two who will lose her house if she gets laid off and is in denial of BB's losses. You never know.

P.S. I read your post just fine.

LOL @ the bold

If T-Mobile merges with Sprint, I WILL leave. I've dealt with Sprint before, and will never do it again. I'll go to Verizon before I become a Sprint customer again.