I feel like I need a GOP grocery store...

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by BrntOrngStmpeDe, Feb 15, 2017.

  1. BrntOrngStmpeDe

    BrntOrngStmpeDe 1,000+ Posts

    I'm not crazy about how vocal CEO's and celebs are starting to be. Using their company platforms to promote their personal agendas. While it is within their constitutional rights, I think we're headed down a bad path. Hopefully this phenomenon is short lived but I feel like I need to stay away from Nordstroms, Starbucks, the NFL, the NBA and every other entity that's using my consumer money to promote their agenda.

    Unfortunately we seem to be moving towards more and more 'echo chamber' dynamics. Doesn't bode well for our future.
     
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  2. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

     
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  3. theiioftx

    theiioftx Sponsor Deputy

    No kidding. I just wish I had a business that could afford to offend and ostracize 50% of my potential customer base. Most shocking in Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. They are offending way more than 50% of their demographic customer base.
     
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  4. Hollandtx

    Hollandtx 250+ Posts

    The sad thing about the boycotts and protests is in the end, it doesn't hurt the intended victim/s. Does anyone really believe that Ivanka Trump will be out on the street if her clothing line fails?
    Meanwhile, Joe or Jane average who are trying to make a living working at Nordstroms, Sears, or in factories where items are made are in jeopardy of losing their jobs.
    It is seriously ridiculous.
    I believe in free speech, and if you want to vote with your wallet, that is your right.
    But we need to think of the trickle down effect on innocent people.
     
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  5. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    These businesses are doing this for business reasons. They think they have more to gain by appealing to Trump haters than they have to lose by angering Trump supporters, and they're probably right.
     
  6. theiioftx

    theiioftx Sponsor Deputy

    Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus more appealing to liberals than conservatives?
     
  7. Phil Elliott

    Phil Elliott 2,500+ Posts

    The history on these sort of things does not support you on this. Ask Chick-Fil-A or Target.
     
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  8. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    Yes. I see Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus stores mostly in or very close to big cities and mostly patronized by fairly wealthy and educated people in those areas. When I think Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus, I think Tarrytown, not Hutto.
     
  9. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    Those are different kinds of retailers with different markets and took different types of stances. If Nordstroms doesn't like Trump, that's not going to change my shopping experience there very much unless I was an actual buyer of Ivanka's stuff. If Target is going to let dudes into the women's bathroom, that affects every woman who goes to the bathroom at Target. It's a bigger deal. Furthermore, Target has a MUCH wider customer base than Nordstroms does and therefore a lot more to lose. That makes their move much more foolish.

    Chick-Fil-A has always been a more conservative fast food retailer and tends to put its stores in the suburbs, particularly in the South. They played right to their customer base. It also helps that Chick-Fil-A just makes a hell of a good product by fast food standards. If people don't like your politics, but you're the best at something, people are going to let it slide easier.
     
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  10. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    There was a note by a doctor in my neighborhood reminding parents that chic-fil-a was still fast food (despite how good it is).
     
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  11. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    I think your point is a bit skewed. Yes, there are more liberals here in the Chicago area, but how does that mean that Nordstroms "appeals" to them more than me, a conservative? I have shopped there. I don't get it. So, maybe more liberals are witty babies who will not shop at Nordstroms if they see anything Trump? Okay, well, if that is how Nordstroms must stay in business is by pulling her stuff, I guess I understand that. Naturally, many conservatives think it is political, and Nordstroms will win based on numbers, not appeal to one side or the other.
     
  12. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    That's my whole point. It's a numbers game for Nordstroms. They're not trying to appeal on the basis of politics. I don't think they give a crap. However, they know who their shoppers are. It's fairly wealthy people who live in or near urban areas, and plenty of those folks are liberal and don't like Trump. It didn't used to be that way, but it is now. And yes, I think you're right that liberals are more likely to throw a tantrum if they see something sold by Trump than conservatives are if they don't see something sold by Trump.
     
  13. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    I agree it is a numbers game if that is in fact reality and they are not doing this as their own political agenda, which is impossible to prove, really. So, I agree with you on that, however, your earlier characterization of Nordstroms being more appealing to liberals was where I had a disagreement, unless I misunderstood your meaning.
     
  14. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    They appeal to wealthy urban people, and those people tend to be liberal. Does that mean Nordstroms cares about their politics? No. If those people were conservative, I think Nordstroms would be less inclined to drop Ivanka's product line. Whether it's by Nordstroms or anyone else, corporate virtue signally is almost always BS. These companies care about money, not politics. If Nordstroms thought they'd make more money playing Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top music in their stores and selling Confederate battle flags and Make America Great Again t-shirts, they'd do that.
     
  15. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    Have to disagree with you there. For that matter, if they wanted to make more money, they would just change their business model to one of Wal-Mart or Costco. But, they haven't done that.

    And, frankly, while you are normally a reasonable poster, this characterization of wealthy conservatives as only listening to 1970s classic album rock and loving the Confederate flag is a bit off. Come on, man, conservatives will shop at Nordstroms and the like because of the style of merchandise sold there, just like any liberal.
     
  16. Phil Elliott

    Phil Elliott 2,500+ Posts

    If all they cared about was money, Hollywood would be cranking out G-rated movies every day. NBC or ABC or somebody in the MSM would try to get a slice of the conservative pie that Fox has all to themselves. It's not always about the money, virtue signaling is a powerfully addictive drug.
     
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  17. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    Ivanka Trump's brand sales (shoes) dropped 32% in 2016 at Nordstrom, while overall sales rose at the chain.

    The only politicization of this issue is Nordstrom's public pronouncement of dropping the brand. Quietly, many other chains are doing the same.

    Whether "liberals" are boycotting the brand or simply it's missed the fashion trendline, it seems that reduced sales are driving these retail chain decisions.
     
  18. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it helps to keep these businesses in the context of global companies which are headquartered in NYC, and in many cases managed and strongly influenced by people with NYC roots.

    The biggest growing group of purchasers in NYC - and certainly the most vocal - are millennials who are almost uniformly progressive in social and political outlook. If I want my stores to have an edge over all the other stores people walk past every day, I'm trying to find whatever edge I can to bring them in.

    Making a political statement (allegedly) resonates with that core audience. I'm not saying that's what's driving a lot of those decisions to drop product lines, but it wouldn't surprise me if that old-school brick and mortar mindset may be influencing those decisions to some extent.
     
  19. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    That's certainly a fair take and likely why Nordstrom offered up the press release that they were dropping Ivanka Trump. If these millenials were already not buying the "Trump" brand, dropping the brand and announcing their intentions were a dual win for Nordstrom. They get rid of a non-performing brand which they would have done as part of normal business and get the kudos from your target audience for doing so.
     
  20. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    They haven't done it because they don't think they'd make more money trying it. And they're right.

    I didn't say all of any group likes anything, and I didn't say conservatives never shop at Nordstrom. Of course they do, but the stereotypical Nordstrom shopper probably isn't particularly conservative and probably isn't a Trump supporter. It's called generalizing. I'm sure there's a black Muslim out there somewhere who listens to Skynyrd and ZZ Top and hates rap, but he's probably not very typical in the black Muslim community. Likewise, I'm sure there's a wealthy conservative in downtown Chicago who shops at Nordstrom, but he's probably not their typical shopper.
     
  21. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    I agree with all of this.

    theiioftx asked if "Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus more appealing to liberals than conservatives?", you said "Yes". That is what I was calling into question. Hard to know if more liberals than conservatives would shop at Nordstroms if they were in all markets.
     
  22. I35

    I35 5,000+ Posts

    I don't get it. It's the working middle class that gets paychecks that will be their biggest consumers. The libs do have the loudest mouth, but the people that would have shopped there are likely to be Republicans. I think time will tell us pretty soon they made a mistake.
     
  23. texas_ex2000

    texas_ex2000 2,500+ Posts

    I'm not going to lie. If their employees wore those stupid pink beanies...I'd still go there and order my spicy chicken sandwhich.
     
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  24. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    How familiar are you with Nordstroms? If you overlay the locations of their department stores (major metropolitan areas) with the results of the last election (heavy urban vs. rural divide) it's pretty evident that their customer base heavily leans liberal.

    We know that Trump convincingly won (crushed?) rural areas as demonstrated by Joe Fan repeatedly posting the map of counties won by Trump. Conversely, HRC won most metropolitan areas. Combine the Metropolitan areas with liberal states and you'll find clusters of Nordstrom Dept. stores. As I posted in another thread, Nordstrom has more department stores in the California than the combined total in the 25 most sparsely populated states that DJT won last election.

    *Note: Nordstrom Rack, their discount store does have a larger presence in more rural states.
     
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  25. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    Why do you think they tend to be in more liberal markets?
     
  26. I35

    I35 5,000+ Posts

    I do think the location helps balance it some for the Libs to shop there than anywhere else. But even the large cities that are completely blue still have trouble keeping up with how many middle class families that earn paychecks to spend. Half of our country are on some type of government assistance and they are liberals that are dependent on Govt. You act like there are zero republicans in those cities. Even in smaller numbers, I feel like they are a much higher percentage of shoppers.

    But like I said, time will tell.
     
  27. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    When I go to Austin, there are three fast food places I never fail to visit at least once. I always go to Chick-fil-A and get the spicy chicken sandwich (no pickles and on whole wheat). I always go to Top Notch Hamburgers on Burnet Road. I always get a burrito at Cabo Bob's on Ben White. That place is ridiculously good - much better than Chipotle and puts the Aggie dump Freebird to shame.
     
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  28. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    Pretty well established that major cities tend to attract more liberals than conservatives. Nice try. ;)

    Most of my in-laws here in the Chicago area are liberals but certainly would never shop at Nordstroms even if they could afford it.
     
  29. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    We're talking past each other.
     
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  30. horninchicago

    horninchicago 10,000+ Posts

    Probably. All I was getting at was that I doubt overall that anyone could prove Nordstroms appeals to more libs than conservatives. :beertoast:
     
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