What are some notable blunders in history that resulted in huge loss?

3 years ago by Bady to c/asklemmy

Loss in terms of money or efforts. Could be recent or ancient.

load all comments

yads 32 points 3 years ago

Target's failed expansion into Canada. It's taught as a case study on what not to do in business schools now.

save

path: 0 2046723, hotness: undefined, score: 32, children: 10

Mr_Blott 22 points 3 years ago

Walmart's attempt to break into the German market is hilarious

Burger King tried to open up in France and literally nobody would eat their muck. So when McDonald's tried, they had to completely change their menu and service style. Hence, "McDo's" in France is actually quite good

save

path: 0 2046723 2047482, hotness: undefined, score: 22, children: 5

yads 6 points 3 years ago

When I was in France this past spring I did see advertisements for Burger King so they must have had some success. I do remember McDonald's having great dessert options.

save

path: 0 2046723 2047482 2052844, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 4

Crazazy 15 points 3 years ago

Wendy's tried to get into the Netherlands, but couldn't, because there was already a snackbar (think small fastfood place but greasier) that was registered under the name "Wendy's" at the chamber of commerce. This spawned a lawsuit. You had Wendy's, a local snackbar who claimed rights to the name because they were already established, and Wendy's, a franchise coming from America. They claimed right to the name because they were a franchise, and not just a single fastfood joint.

To solve this issue, the local snackbar opened up a second location, making local Wendy's a franchise, and winning them the lawsuit

save

path: 0 2046723 2066533, hotness: undefined, score: 15, children: 0

Zoidsberg 9 points 3 years ago

It was so weird when Target opened in my city. Everyone was pumped for the great deals Americans are always on about. The grand opening comes, and it was basically just a super expensive Walmart with half the products out of stock. Then they closed without notice like a month later. Employees came in the morning to open up and there were chains on the doors.

save

path: 0 2046723 2068660, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 0

SulaymanF 4 points 3 years ago

I’m not familiar with this story, could you give some details?

save

path: 0 2046723 2052027, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 1

yads 11 points 3 years ago

Empty stores, somehow, store managers had a perverse incentive to keep store inventory levels low. Their prices were really high as well. A rushed SAP implementation meant that executives didn't have enough insight into business operations. You can read more here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Canada

save

path: 0 2046723 2052027 2052983, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0