If you grew up in the United States, then you have seen big companies come and go. And, the longer you have been around, the more large retailers you have probably seen come and go. In the past several decades, large retailers, such as Sears and Kmart and Walmart have unseated the mom-and-pop stores as America’s place to shop. Long-term trends have turned against big retailers, and this article will discuss golden retailers and their bankruptcies, and in particular, once golden retailers that are now extinct or nearly extinct.

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Dinosaurs And Large Corporations Can Both Become Extinct.

When a golden retailer goes bankrupt, there are different ways to go bankrupt. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a company time to re-organize it’s debts while suspending payments to creditors. Chapter 11 also allows a company to break contracts and walk away from leases and other such financial responsibilities. However, if a company is too far gone, under this particular type of bankruptcy, the company may be forced to cease to exist and forfeit any assets to its creditors. Sometimes in the story of once golden retailers and their bankruptcies, the story does not have with a “happily ever after” ending. Sometimes a once large and powerful retailer can fade into non-existence.

Golden Retailers And Their Bankruptcies : CompUSA.

CompUSA is an interesting story. Once upon a time not long ago, not every home had a computer, much less four smartphones. When the personal computing craze happened, so did CompUSA. There were only a few places to get a new home computer, and CompUSA made sure that you thought of them when you needed anything from a floppy disk to a new ink ribbon for your 24-pin printer. If you needed some tractor feed continuous paper for your OkiData daisy wheel printer also, CompUSA was your place for such things.

CompUSA and BestBuy Are Now Both Retail Relics.

CompUSA was owned through holding companies primarily by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Slim knows how to make money, usually. In 1986, the first iterations of the “computer superstore” opened. By 2007, the last of their retail locations were chained, locked and out of business. By 2012, any residual online traces of CompUSA as an online retailer were gone. Carlos Slim reportedly poured over $2 billion into the failed retailer trying to revive sales and save the company, but his CompUSA had lost its hold on the market.

Golden Retailers And Their Bankruptcies : Blockbuster Video.

Blockbuster stores were everywhere, and then they were not. In fact, there were a lot of video stores, large and small, that popped up like weeds and then died a sudden and similar withering death. Blockbuster bolted to dominance and profitability as home theaters and movie-nights-at-home became the norm. VHS tapes gave way to DVD’s, and apparently after that, there was Chapter 11 and/or bankruptcy ahead for most DVD rental companies.

Blockbuster Was The Place To Go To Rent A VHS Copy Of The Breakfast Club.

Netflix and RedBox killed the giant brick and mortar stores like Blockbuster that demanded stiff late fees in order to help pay their rent. Blockbuster tried new ideas and pricing structures, but the times had changed and Blockbuster had allowed itself to become irrelevant. Between 2003 and 2005, it is reported that Blockbuster lost almost 75% of its market share.

In 2002, Blockbuster had a valuation of $5 billion. In 2010, Blockbuster filed Chapter 11 and was subsequently bought by DISH Network for $320 million. Today DISH offers a couple of services with the Blockbuster moniker, but the days of driving to the Blockbuster at ten minutes to midnight avoid more Blockbuster late fees are over.

Golden Retailers And Their Bankruptcies : Borders.

Borders was a bookstore that was also a destination. Good coffee, a quiet place to read and browse books and music, and over 600 locations made going to a Borders bookstore a relaxing and convenient escape. Then Amazon came along, perhaps. People kept going to Borders to browse and graze, but they eventually began using the free wi-fi to buy the books they liked at Borders online for less money. As Kurt Vonnegut might say; And so it goes.

One Of Several Hundred Borders Stores That Were Closed.

Somewhat ironically, Amazon.com bought the online business that Borders had managed to cobble together to try to save the company and move it into the new digital frontier. Borders had been in the book business for forty years before the story ended. Instead of the story ending with the closing of a book, however, this story of golden retailers and their bankruptcies ended with the closing of 640 stores and the ending of thousands of jobs.

Golden Retailers And Their Bankruptcies = Buy Gold.

Large retailers in this country are closing at growing rates and with more frequency. Big retail is in trouble. Long-term trends count, and you have to be able to recognize them and position yourself to profit from them rather than be destroyed by them. Gold is a long-term currency that has reliability. Gold does not go bankrupt. Gold is a store of value.

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All of the CEO’s and CFO’s of the large American corporations that end up in Chapter 11 bankruptcy tried their best to save their companies and save the jobs that go with them. As smart as these men and women are, they fail again and again. Gold does not fail, gold has always been money.

If once golden retailers and their bankruptcies should mean anything to you, then perhaps you can see the rise and demise of these retail behemoths as a sign that your investment portfolio should be diversified to include physical gold and physical silver. You probably already own stocks and shares in mutual funds, why not own something that doesn’t ever go bankrupt?

By the way, if you miss sipping a good cup of coffee and browsing and interesting store, like Borders used to be, I invite you to brew a cup of your favorite coffee and visit the ITM Trading online store.