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Home retail chain Brookstone has filed for bankruptcy for the second time since 2014 after more than four decades of business. Barring 35 airport locations, all of its US outlets will be shut down.
For many, Brookstone's exit from the shopping scene may be as bittersweet as when The Sharper Image closed its doors in 2008, or SkyMall's demise seven years later. Its quirky assemblage of non-essentials -- 3D printing pens, Parrot AR Drones and gigantic Dance Dance Revolution remote controls -- offered customers a welcome escape from the throes of everyday life, and a chance to buy obscure gifts.
[...] Brookstone's CEO Piau Phang Foo said it was a 'difficult' decision to shut down mall stores, but is still keen to continue operations "with a smaller physical footprint". So Brookstone hasn't been completely extinguished from the retail map -- you'll just need to seek out its novelty products online from now on.
Source: Engadget
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 05 2018, @08:52AM (1 child)
One of the things I was a little pissed off at Sharper Image was that they were trying to project this image that they carried leading edge technology before anyone else would have it... so I kept going there looking for the AA, AAA, and 9V lithium batteries which were just beginning to make it into consumer retail. I kept finding all these "dollar-store" brands in there, all gussied up for display, with high prices to match. I kept asking them to get the Lithium cells... I wanted them for my test equipment, which would be invariably damaged when the alkaline cells leak.
Then Home Depot had them. Still could not get them through Sharper Image. They just had expensive toys. Throwaway crap. Very little stuff I could actually use. Most of what they had looked useful only for showing someone else that I had lots of disposable, and I mean *disposable*, income.
If they were around today, I would be bugging them to retail 18650 cell compatible stuff... battery cells, shavers, radios, chargers, flashlights, can openers, whatever.
One thing they had was the Ionic Breeze. I sure thought that was a nice design. If one turns it up too high, it will put out more ozone than I liked, though. But it would definitely get the crap out of the air.
(Score: 2) by EETech1 on Sunday August 05 2018, @07:27PM
I've had 2 ionic breezes for over 15 years. Bought them to get rid of "smoke" in my apartment after the neighbor hinted about the smell in the hall.
Even after that phase of my life ended (the apartment) there still doing their job.
There amount of nasties I clean out of them weekly has proven their effectiveness.