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I'm with Bill
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Jensen Beach, FL
Posts: 13,028
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Sharper Image Belly up?
I noticed a Sharper Image was closed in the Mall that we go to about 2 times a year.
Then when we were walking around here in Phoenix in an outdoor downtown area there was another one closed down. I just looked online and it appears it has goes bankrupt. I had a camera warranty on my Casio with them, its a 3 year policy about 4 months old I'll have to dig it out and see if it will still be honored. More importantly, yet another corporation that I considered an institution along the lines of Starbucks, Hooters, etc... is closed down. I try not to over react to these things but I have to wonder if there is a bigger picture here or is it just a fatality to Americans changing their spending habits and nothing more.
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1978 Mini Cooper Pickup 1991 BMW 318i M50 2.8 swap 2005 Mini Cooper S 2014 BMW i3 Giga World - For sale in late March |
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08-04-2008, 08:19 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: SoFLA
Posts: 5,536
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Anything you find at Sharper Image can be had much cheaper somewhere else or on-line. But, Sharper Image is only closing 86 stores. Not sure how many they have, though.
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08-04-2008, 08:23 PM
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Banned
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 18,162
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Sharper Image was cool when they actually had unique items. Now days you can that stuff in many place, including the internet. Their market it gone. |
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08-04-2008, 08:26 PM
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I'm with Bill
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Jensen Beach, FL
Posts: 13,028
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Agreed, except their no questions asked insurance was awesome. After killing 2 digi cameras from abuse I purchased one from them with the insurance.
I ruined it just like the 2 before. Except I got a newer model for less money for free and with the money left over got another 3 year insurance policy and a nickel change. Not bad, but I would imagine this is not good business in the long run. Also some folks like instant gratification, walking into a store touching and using the product before buying then buying it on the spot because you liked it so much and did not want to wait to buy online and have it shipped.
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1978 Mini Cooper Pickup 1991 BMW 318i M50 2.8 swap 2005 Mini Cooper S 2014 BMW i3 Giga World - For sale in late March |
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08-04-2008, 08:28 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 8,279
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Sharp Image did go belly up. They filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
All of their remaining assets, including the "Sharper Image" name, were sold for something like $40 million in the bankruptcy to some investment group. They will now use the name only for a marketing company (or something like that, I don't recall the details). But all of their stores/catalog/retail sales will be closed. |
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08-04-2008, 08:30 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 8,279
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The Ionic Breeze is what lead to their demise. It was tested, unfavorably, by Consumer Reports in the early 2000s, and it killed them.
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08-04-2008, 08:31 PM
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A Man of Wealth and Taste
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Out there somewhere beyond the doors of perception
Posts: 51,063
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Hate to deal ya another blow but Mervyns has declared BK as well.
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Copyright "Some Observer" |
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08-04-2008, 09:16 PM
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Monkey with a mouse
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,006
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08-04-2008, 09:19 PM
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I'm with Bill
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Jensen Beach, FL
Posts: 13,028
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1978 Mini Cooper Pickup 1991 BMW 318i M50 2.8 swap 2005 Mini Cooper S 2014 BMW i3 Giga World - For sale in late March |
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08-04-2008, 09:33 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,673
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When CR flunked it, that was the beginning of the end. |
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08-05-2008, 08:14 AM
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Too big to fail
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There was also a lawsuit.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/02/sharper_image.html The cynic in me imagines the top dogs still managed to get out with phat golden parachutes.
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"You go to the track with the Porsche you have, not the Porsche you wish you had." '03 E46 M3 '57 356A Various VWs |
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08-05-2008, 08:49 AM
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Banned
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: South of Heaven
Posts: 21,159
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08-05-2008, 10:10 AM
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drag racing the short bus
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Location, Location...
Posts: 21,983
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Quote:
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The Terror of Tiny Town |
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08-05-2008, 10:13 AM
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The Unsettler
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Lantanna TX
Posts: 23,885
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Quote:
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"I want my two dollars" "Goodbye and thanks for the fish" "Proud Member and Supporter of the YWL" "Brandon Won" |
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08-05-2008, 10:33 AM
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Banned
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 8,509
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I always hated Sharper Image- overpriced useless toys IMO. And Richard looks like a jerk.
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08-05-2008, 10:48 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: So. Cal.
Posts: 11,239
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Walked through many times but never found anything to buy there.
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David 1972 911T/S MFI Survivor |
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08-05-2008, 11:36 AM
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Did you get the memo?
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 32,298
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Always amusing to go look but I can't imagine anyone would buy anything. Expensive stuff to suit a need you never knew you had. Solar powered coffee cup/flashlight anyone?
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‘07 Mazda RX8-8 Past: 911T, 911SC, Carrera, 951s, 955, 996s, 987s, 986s, 997s, BMW 5x, C36, C63, XJR, S8, Maserati Coupe, GT500, etc |
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08-05-2008, 11:55 AM
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Jacksonville FL
Posts: 50,449
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It was a corporate gift store. No one spent thier own money there.
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08-05-2008, 11:58 AM
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Dog-faced pony soldier
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I confess I bought a pair of Bose headphones there. Oh, and a flask. That's it.
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A car, a 911, a motorbike and a few surfboards Black Cars Matter |
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08-05-2008, 12:23 PM
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Crusty Conservative
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Used to be a good place to buy Maisto, etc. 1:18 metal car models...same pricing as everyone else, better selection.
They were on the road to destruction when they started to" invent" new high end gadgets to stock their store, rather than finding & reselling actual good articles, IMHO... 
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Bill 69 911 T Targa, 2.4E w/carbs (1985-2001) 70 911 S Coupe, 2nd owner (1989- 2015) 73 911 T Targa, 3.2 Motronic (2001- ) |
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08-05-2008, 01:56 PM
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1970 Porsche 911S 2.2l MFI
