Adam’s Reviews > Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture > Status Update
Adam
is 18% done
Fascinating! John Wanamaker or however you spell it and Somebody Woolworth make the first big department stores, sears Macy and target follow suit.
The name of the retail game becomes selling product at such a low price that manufacturers have to constantly be producing to keep up, with the idea of a one dollar margin times 1 million sales is better than a $50 margin with 100 sales…
— May 01, 2026 01:34PM
The name of the retail game becomes selling product at such a low price that manufacturers have to constantly be producing to keep up, with the idea of a one dollar margin times 1 million sales is better than a $50 margin with 100 sales…
1 like · Like flag
Adam’s Previous Updates
Adam
is 96% done
The poor treatment of workers abroad translates to poor treatment of workers here.
The watered milk vendor analogy is really interesting and relevant today.
— May 14, 2026 04:00PM
The watered milk vendor analogy is really interesting and relevant today.
Adam
is 92% done
“Creative destruction“ is a popular economic term referring to how capitalism supposedly keeps a zero sum game of industry concentration, for example when manual laborers lose their job jobs to machine machines, machine operators and engineers replace them.
Small profit margins restricts creativity as it forces manufacturers to only make products that can economically compete rather than unique ones.
— May 13, 2026 02:31PM
Small profit margins restricts creativity as it forces manufacturers to only make products that can economically compete rather than unique ones.
Adam
is 89% done
Nations with unskilled, impoverished citizens will always excel at the game of cheap manufacturing, inherently.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1910 in New York helped kickstart the labor rights movement and develop Unions for manufacturing workers. Unions fr peaked in the early to mid 20th century...
— May 13, 2026 01:52PM
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1910 in New York helped kickstart the labor rights movement and develop Unions for manufacturing workers. Unions fr peaked in the early to mid 20th century...
Adam
is 82% done
Failures in infrastructure and economic obsession with cheap leads to country’s citizens starving while mass amounts of food are exported. There has been enough food to go around for likely a century now.
Most food goes unchecked by the FDA or USDA meaning you mostly get the Consumer Risk nonconforming food products that are ignored by exporters. Shrimp and pork especially differ from their organic counterparts.
— May 12, 2026 11:01AM
Most food goes unchecked by the FDA or USDA meaning you mostly get the Consumer Risk nonconforming food products that are ignored by exporters. Shrimp and pork especially differ from their organic counterparts.
Adam
is 60% done
Rebate redemption rates are on average around 15% lol.
Ikea uses deals with villages near forests for totally legal logging practices for their wood.
— May 11, 2026 10:21AM
Ikea uses deals with villages near forests for totally legal logging practices for their wood.
Adam
is 48% done
Victor Gruen has these big cultural center areas built in Detroit that envisioned combining commerce and culture in one place which shortly after, like in the 60s, becoming the modern day shopping mall, all about buying.
But there are loiterers, and studies have been made to make places, especially restaurants, not too comfortable to have people stay and not spend money…
— May 08, 2026 09:07AM
But there are loiterers, and studies have been made to make places, especially restaurants, not too comfortable to have people stay and not spend money…
Adam
is 37% done
The nucleus accumbens is involved in suspense and anticipation for good or bad situations, and the prefrontal cortex more in decision making and rationality, whereas the Insula mainly is activated when feelings regarding fairness come into consideration, especially perceived unfairness. The former being activated meant deal, the latter no deal.
Alfred Hitchcock discussed the idea of suspense being more important...
— May 05, 2026 08:40AM
Alfred Hitchcock discussed the idea of suspense being more important...
Adam
is 31% done
Big companies invest into neurological studies of human behavior, counting quantities like fractions of a second spent looking at a certain color, etc.
Emotions critically drive decision-making. A study suggests people with significant pre-frontal cortex damage often are utterly incapable of making a decision due to endlessly being able to find a reason to and a reason not to do something. Damn me fr lol.
— May 04, 2026 01:51PM
Emotions critically drive decision-making. A study suggests people with significant pre-frontal cortex damage often are utterly incapable of making a decision due to endlessly being able to find a reason to and a reason not to do something. Damn me fr lol.
Comments Showing 1-3 of 3 (3 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Adam
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
May 01, 2026 01:35PM
I did not know that the general public and even populist politicians appealed to the notion of cheaper products making cheaper men making a cheaper country, a.k.a. Cheap was bad. At least they brought rise to a proper middle class…
reply
|
flag
Oh yeah and a particular dichotomy among different manufacturers and retailers is the concept of favoring loyalty and profit, with some chains simply renting out large buildings for their department stores and not actually settling in one place, closing a shop and moving to another place where the money is. Interesting. Meanwhile opponents to this practice suggest that our owners owe it to the community to stay put…
That last comment meant some chains were literally renting out places to have shops over here over there, everywhere, anywhere money can be found, as opposed to trying to build up communities by consistently providing goods around one neighborhood or something, not caring about where the money comes from and just focusing on the profit.