As the youngest active cyburbian, and a later millennial (born after the 80s) here is my take:
1. Bars of soap: Allot of us prefer artisinal soaps, Dr. Bronners or body wash, its because of the Axe Effect. Me, I personally large use bars of Italian glycerin soap, works as shampoo and floor cleaner too!
2. Hotels: AirBNB and CouchSurfing have been partly responsible for this. The only Hotel chain I have ever frequented with regularity is MOTEL 6, because of cost, proximity to highways I was travelling along and the fact that "they'll leave the light on for you". I especially prefer the Motel 6's that have not yet been renovated, although they are becoming a rarity. The one I stayed at in Madison Heights, MI felt like it hadn't been touched since 1996, Goldstar brand box TV, stucco paint and all. If hotel chains made an effort to style their rooms to resemble the types of rooms we stayed in as children, they would make a killing on the Nostalgia market. Millennials love that.
3. Casual dining restaurants: Because they serve terrible, unhealthy microwaved food and generally suck.
4. Car ownership: This is entirely based on geography. In Brooklyn, SF, Boston, places like that, millenials dont own cars. In rural areas or places like LA, they have cars. Me, Ive owned 9 cars over 13 years of driving, and I wish that number was higher because Ive yet to own some of my dream cars, like a 67-73 Dodge Dart, Mercedes W116, 77-79 Box Caprice etc. I am an extreme outlier among my generation because I have a hard-on for 70s-90s automobiles, aka the things that were driving around when I was a kid. most millenials think my taste in cars is passe and ask questions like "you dont have trouble finding someone to work on that" or "OMG, what do you mean you dont have air conditioning" or "that must be sooooo unsafe". Im trying to hold off on having a car made this century until 2030.
5. Home ownership WE WISH!!! this is pure economics at play. Our generation has less opportunity than our parents.
6. McDonalds: Everyone goes to Micky Dees, even if they don't admit it. As long as there exist drunk people, there will be a market for Micky Dees.
7. Golf Golf is terrible, Golf courses are a wasteful landuse that makes me mad, my Dad spends way too much time Golfing. I hope its actually declining among my generation. We prefer things like Crossfit, Yoga, MMA/JiuJitsu, Snowboarding, Rock Climbing etc. Golf is seen as passe.
8. Hotels: See above
9. Cable subscriptions: The Internet negates the need for this. Even MLB and NFL offer online paid streaming. I hope Cable dies out by 2030.
10. Life insurance: Allot of us have had trouble "launching" and thus dont have families and see a need for it. Why would I give someone the financial incentive to kill me?
11. Doorbells: See above re: homeownership. I personally am against the "internet of things' and if I ever own my North Buffalo dreamhome, it will have a bell, not some stupid App based e-bell.
12. Stiletto heels: Have you ever been to a rave? Or met a Sex Worker? Maybe not as common to see women wearing them just because, but there will always be a market.
13. Postcards: Social Media is to blame for this, I personally enjoy sending, recieving and collecting them still. Prices on them are dirt cheap now, like 5 for $2.
14. Lottery tickets: A voluntary tax on the poor that wastes peoples time in convience store/gas station lines. Its cool the revenue goes to Public Schools, but if we funded Public Schools properly instead of prisons and corporate welfare, we wouldnt need the revenue stream. As far as I know, all major cities still have illicit policy rackets operating, so that goal didn't even work.
15. Land line telephones: Gone the way of the dodo, although they are very very cheap these days, it almost makes having one "why not?" if you're into retro kitsch like me.
16. Irons (for clothes wrinkles): Thats because we are less formal than our parents, I literally only iron my clothes for job interviews.
17. Fabric softener: same as above, were less picky and also used to comfy slick modern styles and sweatshop clothes from brands like H&M and Uniqlo that dont need to be softened.
18. Mayonnaise: is Gross.
19. Napkins: Its the decline of paper products seen as "not sustainable" in general, but at the same time, I dont see napkins ever going away.
20. Beef: We tend to be vegetatrian and vegan at higher rates than previous generations, but I looooove a good steak and Montreal Smoked Meat, many millenials are into gastro-culture and BBQ, so I dont really agree with this one, its just the kinds of beef we buy are different, we tend to choose better cuts and avoid grade-D supermarket beef we grew up with.
21. Gym memberships: WHUUUUT? It seems like there are more crossfit gyms, yoga studios, boutique fitness places now more than ever (at least pre Pandemic). Before Covid, I had 2: a regular gym "salle de musculatuon" and a brazillian jiujitsu club.
22. Cruises: Are a joke and waste of time and money, why go on a cruise when you can actually experience a destination?
23. Domestic brand macro-beers: This is for sure, only the hipster ones like PBR and Miller HighLife will survive. Oh and Genny, because all of WNY drinks genny, no matter how old you are.
24. Bulk groceries (Sams Club, Costco, etc): Because we like to waste our money on craft everything, and these memberships are kinda expensive. Costco rules though.
25. Movie theaters: again, we can thank the Internet. I never go to a chain theatre unless there is a big movie I want to see, like Skyfall when it came out. Independant movie houses were doing well before the pandemic though, those are much more popular among millennials.
26. Wedding diamonds: Were just getting married less, plain and simple.
27. Regular milk: Because its gross and highly processed. I actually really like Oat Milk.
28. Department stores: Again, the Internet. Also because Dept Stores are sterile, generic places that are found in deadmalls, that sell things you can get significantly cheaper online, and also have overzealous loss prevention staff that like to follow younger people around because they typecast use as the shoplifting demographic, or at least those memories are still in our minds from when we were teens. I kinda miss them though. Yes the world is better off without sears and montgomery ward, but Amazon is much worse. If there were department stores that sold "sustainable" goods and made a big deal out of unionizing the staff, and had accompanying apps that worked well, than I think of millenials may be drawn back to them on the "ethical consumption" value.
. And I'm no millennial.
