Two for Tuesday – 2 Margs, 2 comics, and 2 Entrepreneurs (Ingvar Kamprad & Charles Lazarus)

Posted on by Prior...

Part 1:

 Was just sharing with Janet how I recently had a margarita (shared one with h) and all it did was make me sleepy (It was tasty – but not worth the grogginess).

Part 2: TWO Entrepreneurs died this year 

We were in DC last month and I saw this man standing with the sign. He smiled and posed for me – and the reason i took the photo was because I realized this was a bit of history. Not the human holding a sign to bring in traffic – because that is a decades old idea.  The historical moment had to do with the fact that Toys R Us could not salvage any of their stores (in March I heard they were trying to save about 200) but as of May 6th, 2018 (credit to Business Insider): “Toys R Us, just five months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has a liquidation plan to close 735 of the remaining stores, with going-out-of-business sales now taking place at all of its US locations.” I only shopped there a handful of times over the years – but managed to have a bag in my little lot of plastic bags (I was tossing recycling bags and saw it in there). 

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Also, some of us wondered if the closing of the stores led to the death of Charles Lazarus, the founder of Toys R Us because he died only a few days after the company announced it would close all US and UK shops and seek bankruptcy protection. Well, Lazarus was also 94 years old and so it was likely other factors too. 

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This reminded me of reading about IKEA’s founder, Ingvar Kamprad, when he died last January (article here).

For some reason, all of this was on my mind this week – two entrepreneurs who had huge businesses and both lived to almost 100 years of age!

However, one man’s company (Toys R Us) is being liquidated while the other is thriving (IKEA).

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 Today’s post is a little shout out to both of these businessmen:

 

Part 3:

Let’s end with two comics – because it is twos-day (I mean Tuesday).

And thanks to Nananoyz for this comic: 

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26 thoughts on “Two for Tuesday – 2 Margs, 2 comics, and 2 Entrepreneurs (Ingvar Kamprad & Charles Lazarus)”

  2. Love the comics. We have a bunch of IKEA furniture we bought when we lived in the UK. Some of it has to be 25 years old, and it’s still going strong. No IKEA in NZ; we buy in Melbourne and ship it here.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Wow wow
      Wow
      To the 25 years old part?
      So surprised and very glad –
      All the barstools we had are no longer (were cool but flimsy) – the peanut sharper table we had was cool looking but lasted a year – their bedding was good quality and do like this little couch – and again – glad yours has fared well

      Liked by 1 person

      1. 😀 I wonder if the older stuff was better made. I haven’t bought any IKEA recently, so perhaps they aren’t making their products as robust any more.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I bet the older was better –
          It seems like here was a period where they had a lot of metal
          Items and not wood.
          Cool rolling doors to close off a bookshelf – and the peanut shaped table was metal with compressed wood toppper with a cover – it looked so cool
          And fit this spot well – but did not last (and we are not that hard on furniture)

          Like

        2. Wow. Surprised at first but then realized it is what some folks do — I see
          This with Trader Joe’s items online sometime – people hike up their resale price
          Too

          Like

  3. The IKEA things we own have lasted well, once we figured out the simple directions for assembling them. 🙂 Thanks for the interesting info on the two men and their companies. I love the comics.

    janet

    Liked by 3 people

  4. It’s sad to see Toy R Us go, but we never shopped there much, even when our daughter was little. The IKEA cartoon kept me from making an IKEA casket joke, so good you included that. The Eagles song will be stuck in my head for a while, but I like it. Nice post!

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Those comics are so funny and one of them is based on one of my favorite song 🙂

    It always sad to see any business or companies go out. I think Sears is also on the way too. It should to be my favorite store for tools and appliances. I think these days, you can find good tools in your home improvement stores and appliances can be found others (even JC Penny now selling fridges and washers and driers).

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi – yes – that comic made me think of you!
      And I am okay with businesses coming and going – hope it is not too cold of me –
      But when I used to teach science we would sometimes pause to marvel at a large fallen tree – but then we would
      Note how it opened the canopy a bit and allowed new
      Saplings to get sunlight –

      Liked by 1 person

  7. I think this is very sad, Yvette. Such a shame about Toys R Us but it is an outdated business plan along with book and music shops.

    Liked by 2 people

  9. I didn’t realize there was a system to the Ikea furniture names! How cool! I think older Ikea furniture was a little more durable. The irrepressible drive to increase profitability on products, means that they have to go too cheap, and along with the food lines, (which seem now to be generic rubbish), are of a quality that appears to have a short use by date! It is a shame that Toys r Us is not able to continue trading. Perhaps this is a sign of kids spending a lot of play time on technology?

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    1. Hi – I would bet the technology played a part in many ways – but in my very limited knowledge of the situation – I bet TOys r us failed to tap into the online market and did not hire the right people to keep adapting with changing consumer needs – not sure – but likely multiple factors –
      Pricing – not enough online – and then boring stores when children started wanting destination places (like LEGO offers) – I dunno

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