The business world is constantly changing. New technologies emerge, new markets develop, and old industries are disrupted. In this ever-changing environment, many companies struggle to survive. However, a select few have managed to endure the test of time. An internet survey recently asked, “What “obsolete” companies are you surprised are still holding on in the modern world?” Here are the top 21 responses.
Kirby Vacuum
“I had some older woman knocking on my door at like 2 pm on a Wednesday trying to come in and give me a demo of a Kirby vacuum cleaner.”
“I have a nice Kirby from one of those salespeople. Convinced her to try some homemade shine. Her driver/supervisor stopped and tried some as well. They both got so buzzed they left the demo model at my house. It’s been four years, and no one has tried to get it back. Quite a few attachments as well.”
AOL
“1.5 million people still pay money for AOL. Average $10 per user. Lmao.”
“My dad does. He’s comfortable with the email interface since he’s had it forever and will pay not to change it. But he’s also 81 years old, so I think this isn’t the most sustainable long-term revenue model.”
Jenny Craig
“I’m surprised their stores lasted as long as they did, but not their products. I remember years ago my mom did it, and some of the snack items were actually good.”
CompuServe
“The forums were huge on there when we joined in the early 90s. They were the place for online discussion among people who didn’t want to mess with Usenet or a BBS. And surprisingly still active until 5 years ago.”
“I use it as mail service lol.”
Mcafee
“Like how are you still preinstalled into my windows?”
Party City
“Their stores are huge, and every time I go, there are less than ten customers”
“Party City is one of those stores that makes its nut from a few days a year. The week before Halloween, and there’s a line out the door. 4th of July, Easter, graduation time, and Thanksgiving and Christmas is when they do their business. It’s a one-stop shop for everything you need for an event that allows you to see it beforehand and not make a bad Amazon purchase.”
Long John Silver
“There’s a secret society among us that is keeping Long John Silvers afloat.”
“My grandma liked to go there for a piece of fish and some hush puppies. Then she’d take me to McDonald’s for coffee (for her -I was a small child) and a vanilla cone. When I miss her, I go to one of the last Long John Silvers in my area and get fish and hush puppies.”
Gamestop
“Everything they sell is more expensive than elsewhere and the only reason to shop there is that you can sell your games to them for questionable prices.”
The Yellow Pages
“I work at a hotel. About once every two years, I get someone asking if we have a copy of the Yellow Pages.”
Altoids
“I’m just happy altoids are still around and still in metal packages.”
Herbalife
Herbalife is a multi-level marketing company that sells nutrition and weight loss products. It was founded in 1980 by Mark Hughes and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Xerox
“They are still big in the commercial digital printing scene and, barring some stupid toner issues, pretty good/reliable printers.”
Tupperware
“Offers close to free replacements of your products forever. You only need to buy something once, and then you basically have it for life. How do they make any money? We haven’t bought anything new from Tupperware in like 20 years, we just send stuff back, and they replace them.”
Applebees
“I can microwave my own food.”
MySpace.com
“I wish everyone would go back there, and we could just pretend like Facebook never happened. We could do cool stuff like show off our pets and share songs.”
Blackberry
BlackBerry is a mobile phone company that was first established in 1984 under the name Research In Motion (RIM). The company is best known for producing smartphones with physical keyboards, which were especially popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Hudson’s Bay Company
“Founded in 1670. Gotta love that staying power.”
“Ok, as a 30-year lady. I love the Bay. My bedding, my furniture, and most of my wardrobe comes from there. They have a sale every two months and usually double up on sales rates as well.”
Microcenter
“Outlived circuit city, radio shack, and fry’s. They’re the last man standing. Their prices match those you can find online, and their employees are old-school helpful. They deserve to have survived this long, and I’ll be genuinely sad if they disappear.”
“Will still support them as long as I can.”
Office Depot
“Twice the price of Amazon and just as bad of a product. Somehow corporate accounts just keep buying paper there.”
“Sometimes you don’t have time to wait for an Amazon delivery, and those brick and mortar office supply super stores fill that void if they operate in a really white collar area.”
Kmart
“How is it still around? The most filthy place I’ve ever been. Half of the inventory is always damaged or broken, and the floor is perpetually dirty and smells like stale french fries.”
“Every Kmart reminds me of a zombie apocalypse filming location.“
Hooters
“The sign doesn’t say good food.”
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