equity and the upper crust, this cant end up well

[visual800]

I have noticed in the past couple years in this area that larger equity firms have been buying out small businesses and its not making me happy. I know this has been going on BUT the biggest change is with my vet. My vet was locally owned and very accomodating. They didnt care about the small stuff. Since VCA bought them out the attitudes of the employees and the docs have changed. prices changed and rules have changed. last time I took my dog in for an ear infection I was told they had to do updated rabies shot (which i stated declining several years back along with distemper, kennel cough and whatever else crap they could come up with. Now they stopped treating my dog unless all shots were "up-to-date". VCA owns a lot of vets in this city now and I find it disgusting. It is nothing but a push of meds!

I would say 85% of the apartments in this town are owned by larger companies and a lot of local comanaies, landscape, signage and contractors will not do work for them because of the slow payments and red tape you have to go thru to even start work. I refuse apartment complexes because of having to beg for my my money after a job is done. It used to not be that way. A lot of shopping centers are now equity owned and they do not take care of the appearances of these shopping centers, trash piled up, parking lots look like crap, potholes and trash. Talking to people that have leased spaces in these places their rent went up and they cant get the "owners" to do anything for improvement. Its like they are using these places for a damn tax write off and not caring what happens to them.

Same about Grimco out there buying everything they can. I call it the WalMart method, come in and buy everything up ad ruin everything that was once good. Maybe its my age I dont know but I dont see this as a long term good thing

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I have noticed in the past couple years in this area that larger equity firms have been buying out small businesses and its not making me happy. I know this has been going on BUT the biggest change is with my vet. My vet was locally owned and very accomodating. They didnt care about the small stuff. Since VCA bought them out the attitudes of the employees and the docs have changed. prices changed and rules have changed. last time I took my dog in for an ear infection I was told they had to do updated rabies shot (which i stated declining several years back along with distemper, kennel cough and whatever else crap they could come up with. Now they stopped treating my dog unless all shots were "up-to-date". VCA owns a lot of vets in this city now and I find it disgusting. It is nothing but a push of meds!

Same thing happened here with the same group. Same thing happened with dr. offices as well around here. Very few are still local practices. All around not a very good thing.

With what all general is going on, going to see a lot more shrinkage in various industries as well.

 

[James Burke]

It's happening with farm land, funeral homes, cemeteries, single-family homes...and any other commodity that can be purchased, exploited, drained dry and then spun off at the stakeholder's whim.

FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) sellers are nothing more than test-markets, and when their products "sell too well", they're booted and then Amazon takes over.

You also need look no further than the many "brands of Walmart"....house-branded items that seem to be pushing national brands off the shelves at an alarming rate. There are numerous things I now have to buy online since they've gone missing at WM. And my last bottle of specialty vitamins traveled 2,000 miles since our natural food co-op got squeezed out by the competition.

One of my better customers sold out to a corporate entity with a "Delaware LLC", and it's been a struggle ever since. Invoices used to be paid weekly, and now payments are made whenever they feel like it. All I see is "Delaware (account number) LLC" on the checks. I don't know who they are, but I have a strong suspicion it's a foreign entity.

I was just at one of our region's largest farm expo this week. Some of the equipment was the largest I'd ever seen. Sadly, the price tags were only within reach of the corporate farms who seem to be gobbling up land at a mind-boggling pace.

Once private equity gets its foot in the door, it always swings its weight...much to the demise of private owners.


JB

 

[damonCA21]

Its a very definite strategy by large corporations. If you buy up all the competition, you no longer have any competition and can charge whatever you want, impose restrictions or give an awful service. What is annoying is when you think you are dealing with an independent business, or small chain, and then find out they are owned by some huge parent company
In the UK the government do step in sometimes to stop certain massive corporations buying up large competitors, but it doesn't happen often enough

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

What you said is on point. Vets, hospitals, doctors, single family housing. Hospitals are bad .. they buy up all the practices in a local market and end up with a monopoly. 90% of my sign work is from private investment companies. They own a bunch of brands. One of them cares about their businesses but the others are building just to sell out. One is in healthcare and they just build them to flip them. The money keeps flowing so I'm happy, they are the ideal clients. Sell stuff that wealthy people want.

 

[victor bogdanov]

Now they stopped treating my dog unless all shots were "up-to-date".

This has been going on for a long time with kids that aren't "up to date". Only emergency room will see them, fake excuse about them being dangerous to everyone else but the real reason is a practice has to be 100% "up to date" or lose out on big bonuses $$$

 

[caribmike]

Agreed, this is happening all over and in every type of business. But, hasn't industry consolidation always been a thing?

Interestingly, I've been in discussions with a much larger print company that wants to buy me out.

I turned them down the first time, but, they've contact me again recently.

 

[MDKAOD]

This is what rabies does to humans:

The first symptoms of rabies may be similar to the flu, including weakness or discomfort, fever, or headache. There also may be discomfort, prickling, or an itching sensation at the site of the bite. These symptoms may last for days.

Symptoms then progress to cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, and agitation. As the disease progresses, the person may experience delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, hydrophobia (fear of water), and insomnia. The acute period of disease typically ends after 2 to 10 days. Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal, and treatment is typically supportive. Less than 20 cases of human survival from clinical rabies have been documented. Only a few survivors had no history of pre- or postexposure prophylaxis

This video shows what it looks like. TW: Dude is dead. I, for one, would rather protect my companion and family. The cost of these vaccines is minimal.

As for kids shots, polio is terrible. Take a walk through a graveyard and look at all the children's headstones. Take note, that after 1955, there are significantly fewer headstones of children.

Science, like technology, is too broad for everyone to understand the nuance of all of it, all of the time. There's a reason that doctors specialize. Just because a person doesn't 'get' or 'understand' the point of vaccines, doesn't mean their opinion is factual.

 

[AndersHerp]

This is what rabies does to humans:



This video shows what it looks like. TW: Dude is dead. I, for one, would rather protect my companion and family. The cost of these vaccines is minimal.

As for kids shots, polio is terrible. Take a walk through a graveyard and look at all the children's headstones. Take note, that after 1955, there are significantly fewer headstones of children.

Science, like technology, is too broad for everyone to understand the nuance of all of it, all of the time. There's a reason that doctors specialize. Just because a person doesn't 'get' or 'understand' the point of vaccines, doesn't mean their opinion is factual.

I was starting to wonder if I was the only one that thought it was weird he doesn't get a rabies shot for his dog.

 

[victor bogdanov]

This is what rabies does to humans:

Interestingly people in 3rd world countries have naturally acquired rabies immunity:

Rabies virus-neutralising antibodies in healthy, unvaccinated individuals: What do they mean for rabies epidemiology? - PMC

Rabies has been a widely feared disease for thousands of years, with records of rabid dogs as early as ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts. The reputation of rabies as being inevitably fatal, together with its ability to affect all mammalian ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2012-09-15/villagers-had-rabies-antibodies-without-vaccination

Lots of wild animals have been recorded as having naturally acquired immunity

 

[Notarealsignguy]

This is what rabies does to humans:



This video shows what it looks like. TW: Dude is dead. I, for one, would rather protect my companion and family. The cost of these vaccines is minimal.

As for kids shots, polio is terrible. Take a walk through a graveyard and look at all the children's headstones. Take note, that after 1955, there are significantly fewer headstones of children.

Science, like technology, is too broad for everyone to understand the nuance of all of it, all of the time. There's a reason that doctors specialize. Just because a person doesn't 'get' or 'understand' the point of vaccines, doesn't mean their opinion is factual.

Some people won't believe things until they see it firsthand which is unfortunate. This can be from disease to war to economic depression. We are lucky to have been far removed from a lot of this over a long(ish) period of time but history is often looked back at with rose colored lenses.

 

[FASTSIGNS]

Been feeling the same way with Johnson Plastics/Rowmark.

 

[JBurton]

Sell stuff that wealthy people want.

Sell what wealthy people want poor people to want. My second biggest account of 23 was urgent care clinics... ironically number 1 was top golf.
You may be onto something...

 

[MDKAOD]

Interestingly people in 3rd world countries have naturally acquired rabies immunity:

Rabies virus-neutralising antibodies in healthy, unvaccinated individuals: What do they mean for rabies epidemiology? - PMC

Rabies has been a widely feared disease for thousands of years, with records of rabid dogs as early as ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts. The reputation of rabies as being inevitably fatal, together with its ability to affect all mammalian ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2012-09-15/villagers-had-rabies-antibodies-without-vaccination

Lots of wild animals have been recorded as having naturally acquired immunity

6 of 63 people. And Europe has eradicated rabies thanks to the stringent measures in place to keep it eradicated.

I'm not going to debate the effectiveness of vaccines with anyone here. It's like swatting a beehive and I've got better things to do with my time.

 

[victor bogdanov]

I'm not going to debate the effectiveness of vaccines with anyone here. It's like swatting a beehive and I've got better things to do with my time.

Be sure to stay up to date on your shots, follow the adult recommended schedule. Stay safe and follow the science

Adult Immunization Schedule by Age | CDC

View and print CDC immunization schedules for adults 19 years and older.

www.cdc.gov

 

[AndersHerp]

6 of 63 people. And Europe has eradicated rabies thanks to the stringent measures in place to keep it eradicated.

I'm not going to debate the effectiveness of vaccines with anyone here. It's like swatting a beehive and I've got better things to do with my time.

and then Victor goes and hits you with a visual aid!

 

[Signarama Jockey]

Stay safe and follow the science

Ignaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician. He was the first to propose to the medical community that doctors should wash their hands between patients. For instance, if a doctor was working on a dead body and were called in to deliver a baby, the Semmelweis said that it might be a good idea to wash your hands before the delivery.

Semmelweis was mocked. No one believed him. He did not know why hand washing dramatically reduced the deaths in his hospital - but it did. He only had a correlation. But, what he was proposing flew in the face of current medical opinion. The experts of the day thought he was a loon. Eventually, his fellow medical professionals had him committed to an asylum where he was beaten by the guards, contracted gangrene and died 2 weeks later.

Just because someone has a title, or a degree, or has a badge, a fancy hat or a special costume does not make them the arbitrator of truth. If you want a list of authorities who have been wrong, I can work one up for you.

 

[PatWhatley]

I was starting to wonder if I was the only one that thought it was weird he doesn't get a rabies shot for his dog.

I don't get my dog vaccinated at the vet. Our vet charges $65 for the annual rabies vac. The annual rabies clinic in town does it for $10.

 

[victor bogdanov]

Just because someone has a title, or a degree, or has a badge, a fancy hat or a special costume does not make them the arbitrator of truth. If you want a list of authorities who have been wrong, I can work one up for you.

​

Same goes for every other vax, read the inserts:

https://www.fda.gov/media/75191/download


Want to stump your doc, ask them why not. After they go look up the answer they'll come back and say "because it would not be ethical to text vaccines against a true control group" . Not ethical to test vax for carinogenic potential yet every other medication/substance goes through this test

Meanwhile USA leads in childhood cancer rates and vax doses.


Everyone reading this did not receive ever 1/4 the vax doses a child born today receives

 

[AndersHerp]

Everyone reading this did not receive ever 1/4 the vax doses a child born today receives

That is not true, my daughter is 7month. I got closer to the same number of shots, rather than the "less than 1/4 number she got," that you are claiming.