Wow, it's packed in the malls even after X-mas! Went shopping and couldn't find parking for a long time... Went to pick up my kids/wife's glasses as well and then lunch, plus more shopping at Costco... What did you guys score over the Black Friday, Cyber Monday deals from last month? How about the X-mas deals over the week? Interesting deals that are still available online?! Looking to get a new gaming desk and chair combo... Going to check out Best Buy, IKEA, Staples, and maybe order off Amazon or Newegg if there are better deals online with Rakuten...
A welcome recovery after the pandemic and supply chain problems. Maybe there is hope? Major retailers have announced 6,200+ store closures this year, already outpacing last year’s total of 5,553, according to Coresight Research. Chains were on track to close the highest number of stores in 2024 than any year since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the industry. Also, the scale of Amazon, Walmart and others can crush smaller companies. So I hope the trend of people returning to malls will extend beyond the holidays.
I went to IKEA on Friday after Christmas. I bought a few household necessities, and at the end of shopping, expected to sit down to a lunch of Swedish meatballs with potatoes and lignon jelly. But the only food they had were hotdogs! No meatballs! A real disappointment. At least the hotdogs were $1 a piece, unlike Costco's $1.50.
I don't know about the Ikea hot dogs but the Costco hot dogs are big ones, the size of multiple regular size hot dogs.
In Ikeas local to me there's one "Restaurant" area with meatballs etc. accessed midway within the store, and a separate "Bistro" snack bar with hot dogs etc. accessed near the end of the store after the check-outs.
The closest IKEA to me is a 2 hour drive (St Louis) but it has one cafeteria style restaurant with serving lines at the entrance, next to a babysitting service for your kids. The restaurant (and actually the babysitting service) are not accessible from the checkout area (different level) without exiting the store completely and re-entering.
