Becoming Radio Shack / Microcenter, as far as 3D Printing and DIY electronics, seems like it intersects with their target audience more, but they're also probably pretty short on space for that.
Employee enthusiasm isn’t really much of a factor. For better or worse, in the event of significant change of the brick & mortar day to day operations then employee continuity & institutional knowledge is even less of an actual strategic asset than the minimal treatment it already gets in consideration.
At the same time, most of the employees at my local UPS store have openly expressed a lack of enthusiasm about becoming Amazon returns employees.
I dont see it as a good value, but it's the only thing I see as a synergy. Otherwise it's just more garbage capitalism.
How is this defined?
It's only when it becomes the primary concern that capitalism eats itself.
- SPAC IPOs that dodge standard disclosure requirements and worsen information asymmetry. See WeWork.
- Board positions filled with CEO loyalists instead of independent directors. See OpenAI firing Altman before Microsoft reinstated him.
- Management taking seemingly arbitrary decisions that turn out to be directly linked to their own compensation. SpaceX ordering a bunch of Teslas, or merging with a distressed asset (xAI). See above point on loyalist boards.
- The very concept of leveraged buyouts where financiers borrow money to buy a company, then put the burden on repayment on the company AND pay themselves hefty management fees. This inevitably leads to layoffs and a rapid decline in product/service quality while the company is scrapped for parts.