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- I, as a former employee and having seen this company [Lechmere] from it's Day
- One opening in the metro area as well as from the inside have to ask, "what
- went wrong? Why was Dayton Hudson so quick to pull the plug? Were sales REALLY
- so terrible in the Southeast that it warranted a quick sale, and just as quick
- a liquidation?"
- Dayton Hudson gave Lechmere three years in the Southeast. Three years might be
- long enough to see that they don't have quite the sales that they favored in
- the North, in particular the Massachusetts area, but why could the corporation
- not allow for legitimate time for Lechmere to get some roots and really
- "establish" itself here?
- Lechmere's style of displaying merchandise is truly unique in that no other
- merchant really displays it for the consumer to physically not only be able to
- feel the merchandise, but also in many cases to see it in operation, as in tape
- players, computers, etc.
-
- However, it must be understood here that Dayton Hudson did not sell Lechmere
- just for it's "problems" in the Southeast, it sold Lechmere as a whole,
- including the New England-based stores, meaning that it didn't favor the
- appearance of the entire big picture. Apparently, it seemed to fall literally
- in the footsteps of Branden's, the housewares-specialty store that it was using
- as a test strategy, which it also recently closed. This leaves Dayton Hudson
- currently with two outside operations, other than it's own Dayton Hudson
- Department Store Company (DHDSC), which are Target Stores and Mervyn's.
- Currently there are six Mervyn's and thirteen Target Stores located in metro
- Atlanta, the Target Stores of course replacing the old Richway franchise, up
- until its fall, owned by the Gold Circle Company.
-
- Dayton Hudson, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company, is apparently a bit too
- hesitant to attempt to open one of it's Macy's-like department stores in the
- metro area, fearing that Sears, Roebuck & Co., Rich's, Macy's, J.C. Penney Co.,
- Service Merchandise, Family Dollar and even all the "little" businesses are too
- ready, willing and able to sweep the consumer's dollar right out of his pocket.
- One does tend to get the feeling after all this scrutiny of retail affairs that
- Southern consumers typically differ in their buying techniques from their
- Northern counterparts. This brings a person back to an old adage, "let all the
- damn Yankees go home." Can we not ever let bygones be bygones and look to the
- future together and not as a still-seemingly divided nation? We, as Southerners
- tend to dispise our brothers to the North, yet we would rather buy anything
- American rather than to buy Japanese. Or Hong Kong. Or Taiwan. You'd buy a Ford
- which might have been manufactured in Detroit or Cadillac, Michigan over a
- Hyundai or Dahatsu. Yet you condemn your fellowman because he was born and
- raised North of the Mason-Dixon line. Why? Why fight over battles that were
- waged years ago?
-
- But then, we might as well be talking about discrimination of Blacks. Blacks
- were not discriminated in the North like they were in the South. It makes me
- sick to say that I was born in the South to have to think about the way that
- Blacks were treated throughout, and even today. Damn the KKK. Damn those who
- are in support of racial supremacy. They can all go to hell. I would love a
- Black man as a brother as much as I would a White man. Some Black people dress
- better than a lot of Whites.
-
- Bible-thumpers get in their pulpits on Sunday and talk about peace and
- tranquility. Well, why aren't they practicing what they preach and loving their
- neighbors as their brother REGARDLESS of their race, creed, color, age, or
- national origin, even if they originated in New York, New Jersey, Delaware,
- Rhode Island, etc..? Where does the love go then? Under the carpet? People in
- the South are constantly talking about Southern Hospitality. There is not one
- grain of Southern Hospitality when a man gets a shotgun held to his head when
- he discovers that he is trespassing on another man's property. If this is
- "supposed" to be any better than having a snubnosed gun held to your head for
- bursting into a New Yorker's apartment, I'm sorry, I fail to see the
- connection.
-
- That's just my opinion.
-
- -Solar Fox-