- Ivan Zhang, a 20-year-old student in Baltimore, said he frequented the store throughout his childhood, usually to take a break after walking around the mall. “You would go to the nearest Brookstone and take a breather on the massage chair,” he said. “I always wondered how do they make money? I never saw anyone buying anything.”
...
Brookstone said Thursday it would put its 35 airport stores up for sale. Those locations are still performing well, the company said. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Brookstone was in talks with liquidators to close its mall outlets.
The airport stores, which sell products as diverse as travel pillows and Brookstone-branded virtual-reality goggles, have fared better than the mall shops, people familiar with the matter say. Airport locations make up 17% of Brookstone’s net sales. In 2017, the airport stores had nearly $38 million in sales, down from $44 million in the previous year.
While Brookstone sells Fitbit watches and Tempur-Pedic pillows, most of the company’s products are Brookstone-branded, and account for nearly 70% of its net sales. The company will also look to sell its intellectual property, including its brand name, and e-commerce operations, through a bankruptcy-run auction.
- WSJ
Ivan was right. I remember me and my younger brother when we were teenagers going to Brookstone to try out their massage chairs but I don't remember us buying anything from there. I'm sure many others doing the same thing. Their airport stores probably survived because anything sold at an airport is a money making scam. Oftentimes airports are at isolated places and you have four hours to go before your flight, so what do you if you need something? You buy something no matter what the price was. Went to an airport in June and there were long lines to buy snacks that were definitely a lot more expensive than what you would get at an average store. Anyways anyone think Spencer's gifts is next? That's another mall store I could see going out of business because they have a lot of useless things too.
I think Spencer's gifts if people have those at their malls. What is useful there?
I will never forget that the Sharper Image once sold Trump Steaks. RIP.