With remarkable coincidence, the blog It Died launched alongside Timely Demise yesterday. Glenn Fleischman is writing "a compendium of what services and companies are no longer available for our Internet pleasure and use." It's a great companion read to this blog and I wish Glenn much success. (See also the It Died post about Timely Demise.)
announcements: November 2008 Archives
After several months of test posts and practice runs, Timely Demise is proud to make its public debut, just in time for Black Friday and the holiday season.
This blog is designed to track changes to the U.S. retail landscape as the country suffers through a remarkable market cycle. Timely Demise will cover store openings and closings, manufacturing shifts, company sales, bankruptcies, liquidations, and other alterations to American retailing. Specifically, the blog is focused on moves that impact consumers.
What this blog does not specifically track are machinations that are strictly financial and structural. Layoffs, debt restructurings, stock buybacks and the like are not the focus. You'll notice, for example, that this page has yet to mention the auto industry--because the Big Three, while running scared, have not altered their business structures in a material way. When General Motors shuts down Pontiac and its dealer network, that will be a Timely Demise topic of interest.
As mentioned in this blog's initial post, this site is not being run with malice or negativity whatsoever. Your host--who works with many companies that sell products--is simply fascinated by the tangible effects of the shifting ground under America's retailers.
The test period has been a busy one, as evidenced by the archives at right. Expect a fairly slow news cycle between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as retailers focus their efforts on shoring up holiday sales before closing stores and selling business units, and a lot of news early in 2009.
Check here daily for store news as it affects all of us.
