Applebee's has been serving up nice food such as salads, pasta, burgers, and their signature riblets since 1980. Millennials are spitting in the restaurant's 38 years of success, though, and the brand is suffering. Now, 135 locations have closed despite trying to please the younger generation. Who knows how long it'll be before this one is gone forever?
We can't really blame millennials for hating gross restaurants like Twin Peaks. This chain was established in 2005 and has been serving up southwestern cuisine with an obscene view. Since then pretty much everyone, especially millennials, has been avoiding the "breastaurant."
You can start mourning your favorite breakfast cereal because it might not be around for long. Cereal sales have dropped almost 5% since 2009, which isn't a huge number, but it's also worth worrying about. The worst part is why millennials are ditching their morning corn flakes: it's too inconvenient for breakfast because they have to clean up after eating it!
Please don't take the Harleys! Not only are millennials neglecting to invest in the future and buy a home, but they're also not buying many vehicles either. If they won't even get a car, they're certainly not buying motorcycles. Even if you don't ride one, everyone can agree that Harley-Davidson has been an iconic brand since 1903. Kids these days just don't respect historical value!
Buffalo Wild Wings has been one of America's favorite places to get a variety of flavorful wings since 1982. Since the rise of the millennial generation, dozens of restaurants have been forced to close their doors. Apparently, the younger generation prefers cooking at home. Who would ever want to prepare, cook, and clean up after a family meal of dozens of hot wings is beyond me!
Millennials aren't even washing their clothes right these days, and laundry detergent sales are proof. Since 2007, Downy has suffered a 26% decline in sales. The only explanation is that millennials don't know what laundry detergent is for, which is disgusting! You better start stockpiling your soaps before millennials stop bathing altogether.
More processed foods are dropping in popularity, which might sound like a good thing, until you realize everything in a package or can on the shelf means "processed" to these millennials. Soon, we're only going to be able to make food from what we grow in gardens because millennials are so obsessed with "health" foods (like their overpriced avocado toast).
Not even McDonald's is safe from the clutches of Millennials. The chain has been around since 1940, but apparently, that history doesn't mean much anymore. McDonald's has even been adding more health-conscious items with higher-quality ingredients since the snowflake generation has been killing their sales. That doesn't mean anything to millennials, however, because the company is struggling through its worst sales period in the past 10 years.
Soon we won't even be able to go into a department store to pick out a nice set of clothes. Millennials have embraced the online shopping world with startling quickness, as you can tell by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' staggering $111 billion net worth. Not even high-end brands like Macy's will be able to survive the rise of the millennial.
Newman's Own doesn't seem like a brand millennials would want to be putting out of business, but this well-loved company isn't safe either. Even though Newman's Own has been donating 100% of its profits to charity since 1982, millennials are choosing off-brand products with lower quality ingredients just because they're cheaper.
Much like poor old Applebee's and Buffalo Wild Wings, the beloved chain restaurant Ruby Tuesday has been closing down many locations in recent years. Millennials just prefer cooking at home or grabbing a quick bite over dining in a sit-down establishment. If this keeps up we won't have any restaurants to go to soon!
Millennials are known for not buying houses or investing in practical pursuits, but they also aren't buying diamonds anymore. Other than the fact that most of the people in that generation seem to have an aversion to marriage, they don't think diamonds are worth the cost.
Okay, so we aren't too upset to see this clothing brand fading away. The clothes were mostly expensive basics with the company's name on it, which gets boring fast. Millennials seem to have also caught on to how pointless this brand is and Abercrombie & Fitch's sales are reflecting that.
De Beers is an international corporation that specializes in mining diamonds and creating stunning pieces of jewelry with those precious stones. This company also faced controversy over blood diamonds, and millennials began demanding ethically sourced jewels. However, De Beers reported in 2018 that sales are picking up since they've changed up their business practices.
Who doesn't love a good bowl of yogurt and granola? It's a hearty and healthy breakfast, but somehow Yoplait and other yogurt companies are reporting a decrease in sales. Millennials are known for skipping breakfast but we never thought we'd see the possibility that yogurt would disappear from store shelves.
Bed Bath & Beyond is a well-loved store that anyone could spend hours in. There are so many great products there but for some reason, millennials just don't see the appeal. Bed Bath & Beyond has been experiencing massive drops in revenue thanks to our favorite generation. Say goodbye to your favorite home goods store!
You'd think with how much millennials love cooking at home, that they would be obsessed with meal kit delivery services. However, these convenient deliveries still aren't good enough for them, and companies like Home Chef are quickly and quietly disappearing. Go ahead and stock up on your favorite recipes from these companies, because they might all be gone soon.
J. Crew offers clothes for everyone and used to have a pretty strong retail presence. This company is desperately trying to turn things around, but nothing is working for them. Millennials hate going to stores to shop, so they prefer online shopping. Unfortunately, J. Crew is just one of the many victims of the millennial generation.
A survey conducted by Sports Business Journal in 2014 revealed that over half of millennials think of the NFL as a sleazy organization, don’t trust the NFL players, and feel that the organization is anti-gay. Millennial cancel culture is taking yet another victim, and this time it’s a defining feature of American culture.
While greeting cards themselves are not dying, Hallmark and other brands that thrive on selling greeting cards are being killed by millennials who would much rather have a personalized card that they could buy online than a convenient and more generic card from the store. It also doesn’t help that physical mail is just not something they want to deal with.
Pizza Hut has not evolved as swiftly as Domino’s in fitting the needs of millennials, and this is showing in their slowly dying brand. Domino’s has easy online and delivery services, which millennials prefer to Pizza Hut’s dine-in style. They’d much rather have their food brought to them while sitting in front of the TV, streaming Netflix.
Subway locations have been shutting down across the nation, and one reason for that might be the millennials who value ambiance, uniqueness and craft over what a fast-food restaurant like Subway offers. Millenials prefer small businesses to large chains. Subway just isn’t at the top of their priority list, even though it likely fueled much of their childhood.
Department stores in general are hurting greatly under the hands of the millennials. Kmart is definitely not an exception. Millennials seem to prefer going to Walmart and Target, and they really like shopping online from brands like Amazon. They are not willing to pay the prices many department stores charge for their items and would rather buy from cheaper and more "fashion-forward" retailers.
Millennials are causing tons of brands to rethink their branding, and General Mills is trying its best to adapt. Millennials are not eating as much cereal for breakfast as their parents, or even their younger siblings. They either opt for something that is easier to take on-the-go, or they just skip breakfast altogether. Are the days of sitting down for breakfast gone?
Gillette is also noticing a trend with millennials skipping things—this time: shaving. Millennials don’t shave as often as older generations, so the sales for disposable razors has gone down. Plus, alternative options such as Harry’s or Dollar Shave Club that are available to order online and are shipped to your door are preferred. Are they also killing basic hygiene?
Millennials are more concerned with being “healthy” than their parents and grandparents had been, and with paleo, keto, and Whole30 diets being all the rage, they are killing classic American brands as well. These diets promote a zero sugar lifestyle, so brands like Coca-Cola are scrambling to adapt and create zero sugar lines of their drinks in order to stay afloat.
Designer brands like Michael Kors are just not as popular among millennials. Millennials are in more debt than their parents were at their age, and they just don’t prioritize spending what money they do have on designer brands. This is forcing designer brands to mark down their prices and have sales just to survive!
With millennials choosing to delay starting their lives by getting married and moving out of their parents’ houses, or even by choosing to rent longer-term rather than prioritizing buying a house, home improvement stores like Home Depot are taking a hit from this demographic. Maybe the rise in trendy fixer-uppers will convince them to return back to these stores, but they might still buy their tools online instead, killing yet another beloved institution.
