“Excuse me, sir or madam. Are you satisfied with your current internet provider? Allow me to introduce you to another one that you’ll be sick of within a year, if you don’t shut the door in my face first!”
The world of business is a brutal one. If you don’t have an excellent idea and a way to execute it without running out of funds, your brand is toast. Yet somehow, despite all odds, there are companies out there who continue to roam the earth like cockroaches, seemingly impossible to destroy.
Reddit users have recently been discussing these confusingly successful companies and business models, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts below. Enjoy reading through, and be sure to upvote the businesses you’re shocked are still around too!
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The Kardashians
Never watched an episode, not even clips. Yet through the "magic" of just general media I know their names, their relationships, etc., and it's nothing I ever wanted to know. How do we cancel this c**p?
Nestle - with all the negative press about the terrible things they've done, surprised anyone still buys their products.
We reached out to the person who started this conversation in the first place, Reddit user Square-Floor8879, and they were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda.
As far as what inspired them to pose the question, "What company has you shocked that they have not yet gone out of business?" the OP says it was just one of those questions they're always curious about. "I pass by so many businesses that I have seen since I was a child, and I wonder between the changes throughout my lifetime and COVID how these places survived and why," they shared.
Wells Fargo, why anyone would still trust them with their money baffles me.
There are a few companies that Square-Floor8879 is surprised are still around as well. "Amazon and online shopping have completely taken over society, so any department store that doesn't differentiate itself from online shopping has me surprised it is still around," the OP told Bored Panda. "Macys or JC Penney type [stores]."
That furniture store that has had the "going out of business" sale going on for the last 4 years.
There was a place like this in my hometown that had a clearance sale because it was going out of business (opheffingsuitverkoop in Dutch) for over 25 years. I was shocked to find out it finally closed for good about six months ago.
On a Wednesday at around 2 pm, I received a tap at my door from an elderly woman who wanted to show me a Kirby hoover.
Additionally, it appears that door-to-door salespeople will still exist in 2023.
We were also curious what the OP believes is keeping these companies afloat. "It has to be a combination of loyal customers, reinventing themselves and maybe a financial strategy or aid that was provided either during COVID or otherwise," they noted.
Every Psychic shop I’ve ever driven by.
They already know who's gonna arrive and when so they plan accordingly
All those awful kiosks in malls that sell stuff no one honestly needs
I'm starting to think that malls themselves are just fronts for money laundering. Who the hell needs Lenscrafters, knockoff "Oriental" furniture, Persion rugs, a phone case that says "It's Wine O'clock," and a churro? And if you do, I know just the place...lol
Square-Floor9979 also said they loved reading through the responses to their post. "It was exactly what I wanted," they noted. But some replies were unexpected. "I'm not sure why people are surprised by chain restaurants. In this economy especially, cheap and quick options will always appeal to people."
Finally, the OP added that they loved how involved their post became. "Every time I checked, there was so much to read and try to keep up with. A cool experience for sure!"
I hope they don't but Arizona Ice Tea has cost the same my whole life. Good on them.
There are three reasons that Arizona Iced Tea has remained at 99c. 1). Production. They use about 1/2 the aluminum of regular cans, and their production facilities run at twice the rate of other companies. 2). They ship their product late at night, to avoid traffic jams, and slow downs, and their trucks are also lighter, equaling less fuel consumption. 3). No advertising campaigns, or celebrities endorsement. They rely on word of mouth, and product placement in gas stations, and other stores.
Burlington. Place is basically Goodwill with clothes people haven't worn yet.
Burlington... along with other stores like Ross or Marshalls are called off price market. What that means is any product that couldn't be sold to any traditional retailers from Wal-Mart on up get off loaded to these stores. It's kinda a last stop for clothing. I only know this because I work in clothing manufacturing and Burlington is one of our customers!
The Chinese buffet across the parking lot from the coffee shop where I work. My boss saw them defrosting fish fillets on the roof of a car once. Directly on the car. I don’t know how many times we’ve had to call the health department on them.
They leave the dumpsters looking like a war crime, too
Edible Arrangements. I'm convinced this company survives on one time orders that are for the hell of it, not actual repeat customers.
AOL
AOL's 2022 revenue was $7.4 billion. AOL has 10,350 employees, and the revenue per employee ratio is $714,975 per.
🤯
I still use my aol email from a quarter century ago. I'm adjusted to it and I'd have to change so many things at this point.
Kohls. Don't get me wrong, I love my Kohl's. But everytime I go in there it feels like 90% of the shoppers there are just there to return their Amazon package. Kohls does have some pretty good stuff so I do hope they stay in business (mostly because they are just so convenient for returns.
One of my friend's son works at Kohls. He says this is one of the reasons he likes it. It's an easy retail job, barely any interaction with customers, and most of those are usually there to return Amazon purchases. The only drawback being he is almost 100% certain that one day he's going to show up for work & the store will be shuttered and abandoned.
Macy’s
One of my favorite stores but it gets pretty depressing to shop there. You see maybe like 2 employees on the entire floor. Products are often never organized and the fitting rooms are even worse. Clothes just dropped on the floor and no one ever checks how many clothes you go in with or what you truly do inside… some macys are better but many are really bad. Feels like a complete ghost town
Most of them have closed down in my area, but yeah, I remember going in one right before it closed for good, and I swear when I walked through the doors I heard a coyote howl. It was that depressing.
I'm honestly surprised every "Check cashing" and "payday loan" and "title loan" place hasn't been shut down due to violence against their staff, yet. Every single one of those places is a detriment to their community and the fact that nobody is throwing molotovs in to them on a regular basis astounds me.
Long before "payday loans" there were "friendly loan companies" on every corner that served as financial institutions for people who could not get a loan from a bank. My economics teacher explained that the loan companies got their operating capital from the same banks that refused to work with the people who wound up borrowing from loan companies. It was a simple way for banks to reduce their risks and still get a piece of the high risk loan business. I suspect these payday companies are linked to big banks the same way, which would explain why they are immune to regulation.
All the mattress stores that are somehow across the street from each other and never have any customers but open new locations down the street all the time.
Chuck E. Cheese’s, lost its hay day years ago, business sucks, shows aren’t that good, animatronics mostly gone at this point. And debt. Lots of it. Surprised they’re still around even though they just filed for bankruptcy three years ago.
Tv guide still exists In print, not just the channel.
I noticed it's more 'magazine' sized and had content other than TV listings, I guess it's geared now to readers who use it more than for just TV listings. I rememeber the TV commercials for it .....and I think last one I was was probably 20 years ago.
Uber. After 14 years and $32bn of cumulative losses, they have only just this year started to turn a profit.
Their CEO recently did an interview with a major national news organization. The reporter took a basic Uber from his hotel to the Uber office (5 miles). The reporter asked the CEO to estimate his Uber trip cost. The damn CEO guessed ~$25 for a non surge time. The reporter told him he was wrong. The trip cost ~$75 (without a tip). The CEO responded with "wow, really?"
Yahoo. They've been through a lot and are still staying alive.
Honestly? F****n Netflix
They upped the price, cracked down on password sharing, and there’s talk about them adding ads.
They don’t have any big or popular franchises anymore, there’s like 5 things worth watching, and don’t bother with any of the original content they spend literal millions of dollars on every year because no matter how good or well received the show is it will be canceled in the first or second season.
The only thing people consistently tune in to Netflix for is Stranger Things, so they’ll probably have a spike in 5 years when the next season comes out.
Five things worth watching? There are many series and documentary films worth watching on there.
Guitar Center, I worked for them for 13 years, they were on the brink of death the whole time.
No sure why. The one close to me is always busy. A guitar, bass, drums, etc, are things you want to play before buying. They aren't internet things
Note: this post originally had 75 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Most of these names meant nothing to me, I guess they were mostly US American.
Was thinking the same. You got downvoted for this, no idea why.
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Ford. I say this as a fan of their cars. Anytime they introduce a new model they flub the launch. They spend twice as much on development as anyone else with little effect on the quality and timing of their products. Every manager has their own fiefdom they jealously guard from any change, and they consistently choose terrible leadership. Mark Fields is completely out of his depth, but is the smartest guy in the room, just ask him.
Instead of letting them go bankrupt where I live, the prime minister (of Ontario Canada) gave them money to go back on track. Awful.
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Most of these names meant nothing to me, I guess they were mostly US American.
Was thinking the same. You got downvoted for this, no idea why.
Load More Replies... Ford. I say this as a fan of their cars. Anytime they introduce a new model they flub the launch. They spend twice as much on development as anyone else with little effect on the quality and timing of their products. Every manager has their own fiefdom they jealously guard from any change, and they consistently choose terrible leadership. Mark Fields is completely out of his depth, but is the smartest guy in the room, just ask him.
Instead of letting them go bankrupt where I live, the prime minister (of Ontario Canada) gave them money to go back on track. Awful.
Load More Replies...