BuyBuyBaby as well, under their umbrella. Liquidation sales start this week.

I guess it's not totally surprising.

Co-founders ousted from board in 2019 then Covid was a double gut punch IMO. 18 months or so ago I think it was pretty well know around real estate circles they were potentially on a death spiral. Recall seeing an article that said as much around then.

When we did the new baby thing a few years ago I couldn't understand how Buy Buy Baby could stay in business. A ~$25 annual membership fee got you 20% off everything without limit (and the pre-discount prices were usually competitive with amazon) and so many bonus points that you ran out of items to buy with them (we seriously got $500-600 of free crap on maybe $3k of purchases that were already discounted at 20%). Guess my reaction was correct.

Out in Left Field said:

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BuyBuyBaby as well, under their umbrella. Liquidation sales start this week.

I guess it's not totally surprising.

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Understatement of the year.

They've been on life support for a while.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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When we did the new baby thing a few years ago I couldn't understand how Buy Buy Baby could stay in business. A ~$25 annual membership fee got you 20% off everything without limit (and the pre-discount prices were usually competitive with amazon) and so many bonus points that you ran out of items to buy with them (we seriously got $500-600 of free crap on maybe $3k of purchases that were already discounted at 20%). Guess my reaction was correct.

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b/c for every person like you who takes full advantage of their system.. there's two people who are paying the 'full price' at their stores.

what shocked me most about BBBY was that the few times I've gotten things there, the person in front of me was unaware of the 20% coupon and the check out person did it for them.

Buy Buy Baby? More like Bye Bye Money. Even with the discounts that place was a rip off. I really don't like Buy Nothing groups but I am amazed about how much free stuff you can get online that is new or barely used when it comes to kids clothing.

JuanDurfel said:

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Deputy Travis Junior said:

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When we did the new baby thing a few years ago I couldn't understand how Buy Buy Baby could stay in business. A ~$25 annual membership fee got you 20% off everything without limit (and the pre-discount prices were usually competitive with amazon) and so many bonus points that you ran out of items to buy with them (we seriously got $500-600 of free crap on maybe $3k of purchases that were already discounted at 20%). Guess my reaction was correct.

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b/c for every person like you who takes full advantage of their system.. there's two people who are paying the 'full price' at their stores.

what shocked me most about BBBY was that the few times I've gotten things there, the person in front of me was unaware of the 20% coupon and the check out person did it for them.

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Yeah, just a pure psychological pricing model. Their actual price is published price - 20%.

Anytime i was ever there they applied the 20% regardless if you had the coupon. Walgreen's does the same thing.

YouBet said:

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Yeah, just a pure psychological pricing model. Their actual price is published price - 20%.

Anytime i was ever there they applied the 20% regardless if you had the coupon. Walgreen's does the same thing.

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which is just wild to me.. I always figured these for profit companies used this strategy to prey on both those easily swayed by 'good deals' and those who were over paying because they were too lazy or unknowing to use their deals.. so I was shocked to see them just applying them de facto, whether people knew about them or not.

During my college summers back home from A&M, I worked at Cinemark and that was the name of the game.
>Don't let people know that the medium and large popcorns are the same size and that the 'free refill' on larges is baked into the price.

>Don't let people know that we can give you free small little bags that we keep hidden under the register to split that large popcorn.. so that people with large parties feel inclined to buy individual small size popcorns.

We were told we would get in trouble if we were caught not trying to upsell people or helping people minimize their costs.. but I had too much of a heart to let an obviously lower income family with a bunch of little kids spend $50 on kids sized popcorns, when I could sell them one $8 large popcorn and then split it with a bunch of free bags I could give them from under the register.

but maybe that's why Cinemark is still hanging around :0

JuanDurfel said:

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YouBet said:

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Yeah, just a pure psychological pricing model. Their actual price is published price - 20%.

Anytime i was ever there they applied the 20% regardless if you had the coupon. Walgreen's does the same thing.

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which is just wild to me.. I always figured these for profit companies used this strategy to prey on both those easily swayed by 'good deals' and those who were over paying because they were too lazy or unknowing to use their deals.. so I was shocked to see them just applying them de facto, whether people knew about them or not.

During my college summers back home from A&M, I worked at Cinemark and that was the name of the game.
>Don't let people know that the medium and large popcorns are the same size and that the 'free refill' on larges is baked into the price.

>Don't let people know that we can give you free small little bags that we keep hidden under the register to split that large popcorn.. so that people with large parties feel inclined to buy individual small size popcorns.

We were told we would get in trouble if we were caught not trying to upsell people or helping people minimize their costs.. but I had too much of a heart to let an obviously lower income family with a bunch of little kids spend $50 on kids sized popcorns, when I could sell them one $8 large popcorn and then split it with a bunch of free bags I could give them from under the register.

but maybe that's why Cinemark is still hanging around :0

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don't really get this. Why offer the "free" item at all?

Is this corporate vs local policy thing?

The free item is just a bag to split the popcorn they purchased. They don't put anything IN the bag.

I get that, just wondering why they offer the bags at all, if they don't want people to know about them.

They're certainly not under any obligation to do so.

I had one in my area that closed a few months ago. Loved the place. I don't like shopping like most men but I loved to go there and look at the products, some were innovative. Sad.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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When we did the new baby thing a few years ago I couldn't understand how Buy Buy Baby could stay in business. A ~$25 annual membership fee got you 20% off everything without limit (and the pre-discount prices were usually competitive with amazon) and so many bonus points that you ran out of items to buy with them (we seriously got $500-600 of free crap on maybe $3k of purchases that were already discounted at 20%). Guess my reaction was correct.

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Agency problem.
Just because someone becomes CEO doesn't mean that he/she is smart or that they do things that help the company. Many times they just care about enriching themselves.
Look at Sears. It's virtually dead now.

Last time I was looking for anything in their product lines, nothing stood out. When I looked online, I saw bad review after bad review. I was looking for a soap dispenser, and seemingly every review described how the product broke.

There was a time it was a one-stop-shop for everything in a new home, and the go to for a sizeable percentage of wedding registries. It was where I bought all the stuff for my first place when I left the dorm for an off campus place with roommates. I got good mileage out of that stuff.

One of their dying moves was that they apparently replaced name brands with their own in-house junk.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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When we did the new baby thing a few years ago I couldn't understand how Buy Buy Baby could stay in business. A ~$25 annual membership fee got you 20% off everything without limit (and the pre-discount prices were usually competitive with amazon) and so many bonus points that you ran out of items to buy with them (we seriously got $500-600 of free crap on maybe $3k of purchases that were already discounted at 20%). Guess my reaction was correct.

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Same with babies R us. we got nearly everything for our first kid using 20% off coupons on stuff already marked down 20-30%, then all the points for more free stuff.

Then it all went away.

My kid is growing so fast we get like 90% of clothes from Once Upon a Child (second hand clothes). Pick up a lot of toys there too. Then she grows out or gets tired of the toys we sell them back for like half of what we paid.

When your entire product line is made in China, welll…

Diggity said:

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I get that, just wondering why they offer the bags at all, if they don't want people to know about them.

They're certainly not under any obligation to do so.

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honestly, I'm not sure..
It's not just a Cinemark thing.. I've asked at Regals, or AMCs, and they always give me something so that I can split

If asked, we could also give you a small 4 oz cup that you could use to fill up at the water fountain...

I was just assumed it was the corporate policy.. since, every actual popcorn bag and soda cup was inventoried at the end of the night.. but at the end of the day it was all about selling concessions, so if someone asked for free baggies, they likely already spent $8 on a large popcorn that cost us $0.10 to make, so Cinemark was already winning..

and maybe the next unknowing customer will be the sucker that buys a $8 large popcorn and $5 large 44oz soda for him and his wife.. and three $5 junior popcorns and three $4 small 12oz sodas for the kids.

P.S. never eat the hotdogs at the movie theater, trust me.