# Companies you thought would have gone belly-up by now... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686 "2012-08-07T02:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/21 "2012-08-07T15:32:07Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > Photo developers. Yea, there’s a “One-Hour Photo” place near where I work. Not sure how they stay in business. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/22 "2012-08-07T15:37:03Z")
Pea Pod. In this economy? I thought it was wasteful and extravagant in 1996, but it’s been through two recessions. WTH? And, as far as I know, they just go to regular grocery stores. If I’m paying for delivery, I want you going to super-expensive organic everything foodisserie. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/23 "2012-08-07T16:35:50Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Apple. > > In 1996, I would have bet you $$ that Apple would no longer be an independent entity by 2012, having been swallowed up by Sony, Toshiba, HP, Packard Bell, whomever. Hell, Microsoft threw $150 million at the company in the late 90s to keep Apple afloat, not out of the goodness of MS’s heart or because MS saw intrinsic value in Apple, but solely that it would have looked _extremely bad_ if MS’s most visible competitor went out of business in the middle of the anti-trust case. > > So, yes, surprised that APPL is still an active stock. It’s no suprise that Apple’s still around _now_. The real question is, how long will they last now that Steve Jobs is gone? ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/24 "2012-08-07T16:48:40Z")
Guitar Center. Their stores are really big and must pay an accordingly large rent. Aren’t pawn shops and Craigslist full of perfectly good used guitars, amps, etc.? It amazes me they can sell enough gear to pay those large rents. I’ve posted before about Batteries Plus. I guess there’s more demand for specialty batteries than I’m aware of. Doesn’t seem the demand would be high enough to support a growing national chain. The one time I’ve been in one there were three employees but no other customers in the store on a Saturday afternoon, and I left without buying anything because they were asking $90 for a replacement battery for our old laptop. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/25 "2012-08-07T16:49:41Z")
[Buggy whip makers](http://fleck-co.de/index.php?id=15&L=1) StG ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/26 "2012-08-07T18:48:13Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > [Buggy whip makers](http://fleck-co.de/index.php?id=15&L=1) > > StG Not surprising at all. There will always be couples having their [third wedding anniversaries.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_anniversary#Traditional_anniversary_gifts) ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/27 "2012-08-07T18:50:18Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > Question for the photographers out there - is there any advantage to using real film over digital? Real film has a different “look” to it, and it can handle wide contrast ranges better than most consumer digicams. But I imagine most photofinishers are more in the business of printing digital pictures than developing film. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/28 "2012-08-07T18:51:13Z")
K-Mart. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/29 "2012-08-07T18:54:52Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > I’ve posted before about Batteries Plus. I guess there’s more demand for specialty batteries than I’m aware of. Doesn’t seem the demand would be high enough to support a growing national chain. The one time I’ve been in one there were three employees but no other customers in the store on a Saturday afternoon, and I left without buying anything because they were asking $90 for a replacement battery for our old laptop. I always buy car batteries from Batteries Plus. You can drive right up to their location in a strip mall and they’ll test your battery and alternator. For a very modest fee they’ll install a new battery and dispose of your old one. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/30 "2012-08-07T19:28:07Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > Guitar Center. Their stores are really big and must pay an accordingly large rent. Aren’t pawn shops and Craigslist full of perfectly good used guitars, amps, etc.? It amazes me they can sell enough gear to pay those large rents. Guitar Center sells a helluva lot more than just guitars. I get a lot of my audio gear there and I’m not even a musician. Remember when you could get actual electronic components at Radio Shack? Now they seem to survive solely on cheap batteries and Monster cables. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/31 "2012-08-07T20:08:29Z")
nm (what I have in mind aren’t well-known) ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/32 "2012-08-07T20:14:39Z")
Zeller’s. I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to go there to buy. Every time I’m in there, it feels like I’m just paying more for Walmart (i.e. not great)-quality miscellaneous goods. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/33 "2012-08-07T20:21:22Z")
> [@Coustralee](#): > > shops in malls with high rents that sell scented candles… how often does one buy a candle? You’ve never met my wife. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/34 "2012-08-07T20:57:30Z")
Not that I’m so much surprised they’re still around, but **iomega** must’ve adapted in crazy-fast record-time from a huge share of the market in removable storage media (the 100 MB Zip disks and 1 GB Jaz discs, and their respective drives) to the almost immediate transition to super-low cost writable CDs, high capacity HDDs, and thumb drives. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/35 "2012-08-07T21:02:16Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > It’s no surprise that Apple’s still around _now_. The real question is, how long will they last now that Steve Jobs is gone? Naw, from 1984 to 2003, Apple was a dawg. It had some success with the Macintosh, but it didn’t sell the way Apple expected or needed, and the company stumbled along until Jobs repositioned it from being a computer company to a consumer electronics company. So, really, it is quite surprising that they’re still around, and astonishing that they’re as valuable as they are (the stock price has bubbled quite frothily the past year or so), especially considering they were left for dead for pretty much the entirety of the 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/36 "2012-08-07T21:02:26Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > K-Mart. Yep, this too. I live in Michigan, where they used to be headquartered just down the road from me. I used to work at a store in my high school days, even, and there’s barely anymore around. But, they keep on hangin’ on, somehow. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/37 "2012-08-07T21:07:22Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Naw, from 1984 to 2003, Apple was a dawg. It had some success with the Macintosh, but it didn’t sell the way Apple expected or needed, and the company stumbled along until Jobs repositioned it from being a computer company to a consumer electronics company. > > So, really, it is quite surprising that they’re still around, and astonishing that they’re as valuable as they are (the stock price has bubbled quite frothily the past year or so), especially considering they were left for dead for pretty much the entirety of the 1990s. It was the graphic arts/video industry and desktop publication that pretty much kept them in business through the 1990s, until Jobs returned (1998?) and re-forged the company into what it is today. They kept afloat just long enough, before they almost drowned. Perhaps from the Wallstreet perspective they were always a dog, but their OSs, hardware and integration wasn’t anything to sneeze at at the time, had a large cult base and certainly kept MS on their toes. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/38 "2012-08-07T21:08:24Z")
I have to pipe up again for Radio Shack. How they do it I honestly cannot say. It’s the absolute premiere example of a business that should be as dead as Dillinger. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/39 "2012-08-07T21:09:01Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Apple. > > In 1996, I would have bet you $$ that Apple would no longer be an independent entity by 2012, having been swallowed up by Sony, Toshiba, HP, Packard Bell, whomever. Hell, Microsoft threw $150 million at the company in the late 90s to keep Apple afloat, not out of the goodness of MS’s heart or because MS saw intrinsic value in Apple, but solely that it would have looked _extremely bad_ if MS’s most visible competitor went out of business in the middle of the anti-trust case. > > So, yes, surprised that APPL is still an active stock. I read someone on Slashdot so confident that Apple will crash into 1990’s level brokenness within three years that he wants to put money into the stock market betting on it. No, I don’t know why; I think it has something to do with his opinion of their products, product policies, and such. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686/40 "2012-08-07T21:17:13Z")
Sharper Image. Brookstone. Skymall. Seems like a lot of overpriced “luxury” items, yet they are still around (or on the airplane). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-you-thought-would-have-gone-belly-up-by-now/630686.md?page=3)