Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Out of business

  1. #1
    Join Date
    10-23-01
    Posts
    17,114

    Out of business

    I had a flat tire on one of my three snowblowers (yes, I need three snowblowers where I live. No snickering, Phillbo.) and figured no problem, I'll just head to the local Ariens place and pick up a new wheel and tire assembly, change it out this weekend when temps are supposed to be above freezing.

    The Ariens store is out of business. I was shocked. This is snow country. We get 9 months of winter and 3 months of damn poor sledding. Everyone has a snowblower. Yet with COVID, I guess, an absolute mainstay of the North Country could not stay in business.

    Partly, though, when I looked into it, was that people are not buying Ariens as much as they used to. My father bought an Ariens in 1971 and it is only recently retired (my sister has been using it for the past 20 years). People don't buy that kind of quality anymore - they buy price-based units from Home Depot or Lowes. The Ariens dealer couldn't keep a dedicated shop going anymore, not even for repairs. People get parts sent to them or small engine guys do the work that a dedicated service shop used to do, and inventory (parts and blowers) costs a lot of money, so my Ariens guy is gone.

    COVID and changing patterns of business kinda converged and poof! I'm seeing that in a number of businesses. The times they are a'changin'.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    04-23-02
    Location
    SW Colorado
    Posts
    4,959
    I do not like what e commerce is doing to the world.
    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    10-22-01
    Location
    All Over
    Posts
    38,200
    I feel your pain Kevin.

    I used to be a dedicated Gravely guy---included in the stable was the biggest Gravely ever made with a 4 cylinder water cooled Continental engine---and then Gravely faded as lower cost alternatives from the big box stores took over the game. The name still exists but not the quality.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
    "Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
    “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •