Posted on 02/01/2016 8:58:20 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Major retailers in the United States are shutting down hundreds of stores, and shoppers are reporting alarmingly bare shelves in many retail locations that are still open all over the country. It appears that the retail apocalypse that made so many headlines in 2015 has gone to an entirely new level as we enter 2016. As economic activity slows down and Internet retailers capture more of the market, brick and mortar retailers are cutting their losses. This is especially true in areas that are on the lower portion of the income scale. In impoverished urban centers all over the nation, it is not uncommon to find entire malls that have now been completely abandoned. It has been estimated that there is about a billion square feet of retail space sitting empty in this country, and this crisis is only going to get worse as the retail apocalypse accelerates.
We always get a wave of store closings after the holiday shopping season, but this year has been particularly active. The following are just a few of the big retailers that have already made major announcements…
-Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, including 154 inside the United States.
-K-Mart is closing down more than two dozen stores over the next several months.
-J.C. Penney will be permanently shutting down 47 more stores after closing a total of 40 stores in 2015.
-Macy’s has decided that it needs to shutter 36 stores and lay off approximately 2,500 employees.
-The Gap is in the process of closing 175 stores in North America.
-Aeropostale is in the process of closing 84 stores all across America.
-Finish Line has announced that 150 stores will be shutting down over the next few years.
-Sears has shut down about 600 stores over the past year or so, but sales at the stores that remain open continue to fall precipitously.
But these store closings are only part of the story.
All over the country, shoppers are noticing bare shelves and alarmingly low inventory levels. This is happening even at the largest and most prominent retailers.
I want to share with you an excerpt from a recent article by Jeremiah Johnson. The anecdotes that he shares definitely set off alarm bells with me. Read them for yourself and see what you think…
*****
I came across two excellent comments upon Steve Quayle's website that bear reading, as these are two people with experience in retail marketing, inventory, ordering, and purchases. Take a look at these:
#1 (From DJ, January 24, 2016)
"Steve-
[Regarding the] alerts about the current state of the RR industry. This is in line with what I've been noticing as I visited our local/regional grocery store, Walmart, and Target this week in WI. I worked in big box retail for 20 years specializing in Inventory Management. These stores are all using computerized inventory management systems that monitor and automatically replenish inventory when levels/shelf stock get low. This prevents "out of stocks" and lost sales. These companies rely on the ability to replenish inventory quickly from regional warehouses.
As I shopped this week and looked at inventory levels I was shocked. There were numerous (above and beyond acceptable levels) out of stocks across category lines at all three retailers. And even where inventory was on the shelf, the overall levels were noticeably reduced. Based on my experience, working for two of these three organizations in store management, they have drastically/intentionally reduced their inventory levels. This is either due to financial stresses/poor sales effecting their ability to acquire new inventory, or it could be the result of what was mentioned earlier regarding the transporting of goods to these regional warehouses. Either way this doesn't bode well for the what's to come. Stock up now while you can!"
#2 (From a Commenter following up #1 who didn't provide a name, January 26, 2016)
"I'd like to tailgate on the SQ Alert "based on my experience…" regarding stock levels in big box stores. This weekend we were in two such stores, each in fairly isolated communities which are easily the communities' best source for acquiring grocery items in quantity.
I myself worked in retail (meat) for thirty years so I know exactly what a well-stocked store looks like, understand the key categories and category drivers, and how shelves are stocked and displays are built to drive sales and profits. I also understand supply chain and distribution methodologies quite well.
Each of the stores we were in were woefully under-stocked. This time of year-the few weeks following the holidays-is usually big business in groceries and low stock levels suggest either poor ordering at the store level, poor purchasing at the distribution level or a purposeful desire to be under-stocked.
Anyone familiar with the retail grocery industry is also familiar with how highly touted "the big box store's" infrastructure is. They know exactly when demand is high and for what items and in what quantities. It is very unlikely that both stores somehow got "surprised" by unusually high demand. It is reasonable then to imagine that low stock levels in rural areas with few options is a purposed endeavor to assure that both the budget conscious and the folks in more remote areas are not fully able to load up their pantries.
Simply put I believe the major retailer in question is doing their part to limit the ability of rural America to be sufficiently prepared. Nevertheless, we are wise to do our best to keep ahead of the curve. God bless your efforts, Steve."
*****
Yes, this is just anecdotal evidence, but it lines up perfectly with hard numbers that I have been discussing on The Economic Collapse Blog.
Exports are plummeting all over the globe, and the Baltic Dry Index just plunged to another new all-time record low. The amount of stuff being shipped around by air, truck and rail inside this country has been dropping significantly, and this tells us that real economic activity is really slowing down.
If you currently work in the retail industry, your job is not secure, and you may want to start evaluating your options.
We have entered the initial phases of a major economic downturn, and it is going to be especially cruel to those on the low end of the income spectrum. Do what you can to get prepared now, because the economy is not going to be getting better any time soon.
We have 94 million work-capable Americans who no longer even look for a job and are not counted in Dear Leader’s propaganda ministry of unemployment. We have Obamacare draining money out of families as they have to shell out thousands of dollars for the useless insurance to pick up thousands of dollars of deductibles before the insurance even kicks in, in other words a heavy burdensome tax with no return. We have automation coming on hard and strong as struggling employers cut cost and eject the headache of Obamacare. We have a collective group of crony capitalists strip mining every company down to the bone (try finding anybody at these retailers to help locate an item), a trucking industry that is being buried by tracking and regulations from lawyers in DC causing the backbone of the trucker industry to retire, and we wonder why the shelves are empty.
This entire country is stuck on stupid. The people in charge will not relent. Combine that with the last seven years of doubling or tripling national debt and this is going to continue to contract like crushing a beer can.
Back in the early 80s I worked in the wholesale construction supply industry. My client got hired by Montgomery Ward to remodel one of their stores. I got to know the MG rep pretty well and he told me they were renovating every store in the country. It was only a few years later that they shut down.
Maybe. I drive a 1999 F-250 and they’re not famous for their good gas mileage.
An added bonus is, I don’t need to worry as much about being assaulted by a gang member if I don’t have to leave my porch.
We’ve been told for the last 50 years how bad racism is but now I’m automatically a bastard and responsible for all the ills in the world because I’m white.
And customers obliviously blocking while they socialize on their cell phones.
My round trip to the grocery store is about 3 miles and I buy my groceries to last a month.
The only reason I drove as much as I did last year was because I had to go get my dogs vaccinated then a trip to the local SPCA for their licenses.
You are exactly right. Too many stores in one area means some will fall by the wayside.
As for empty shelves, I’m not seeing it. The only time I see empty shelves is at seasonal or holiday changeover time, and that’s temporary.
Stores that are still open don’t carry the variety that they did in the past. More and more, we do our shopping online.
Exactly.
Near as I can tell, it's mostly last season's, or last year's, inventory. I don't care, I'll be wearing it for more than one year. :-) And the prices are a fraction of retail.
No atmosphere in the retail outlet, though. Just racks and bins of stuff to paw through. The Main Store is a lot more fun.
Re out-of-sync seasons, received an email from a company that sells snow globes and they had their remaining Christmas stock available at 60% off with free shipping through January 31. I have a couple of clients that collect them so was glad to see these available at a huge savings so ordered two which I will keep until Christmas 2016. We used to only buy clothes which were on sale at the end of a season but don’t even do that any more.
You’re right about the must have. Unless I desperately need a replacement for something in the office or house that is broken, I don’t buy it. Two items on February’s list has two items which I put into that category - underwear and a toilet seat!
I’m all for capitalism but for Apple to use slave labor in China to build their products, then rake in $18.1 BILLION in PROFITS for the last quarter is unconscionable.
On a related note, there’s a growing concern in the defense industry with the revelations coming out that so many gov’t and defense contractor computer equipment was supplied by a vendor that bought everything from China, who just happened to have backdoors built into the hardware.
I don’t have a link for verification yet but I’ll keep looking.
When the sole concern of the financial globalist is how much they can skim by strip mining our country and selling us down the river it is only a matter of time before they succeed. Every one of us freepers that argued with the gloablist free traders on this board in the 90s and early 00s predicted what we are now experiencing. Notice that no one now defends the indefensible but the apologists for the crony capitalists?
Roger that. Plenty of choices out there, all chasing the same dollar.
Last year, WalMart dropped a "Neighborhood Grocery" in our town. There are two other grocery stores (a lower-end one, and a higher-end one) and a "Dollar General" all within rock-throwing distance of it. And, there are two dozen or more WalMarts, KMarts, grocery stores, and five-and-dimes all within a 15 minute drive.
Business at the new WalMart store is doing pretty well. Business at the other, close grocery stores and Dollar General doesn't seem to have dropped off any either. My 10c diagnosis is that WalMart is just cannibalizing its own business. People who *were* driving to the next town over to go to the SUPER WalMart, are just staying local to shop at the "Neighborhood" one.
We will see.
“Part of the problem early in the year is people are paying into their deducible. My family has to pay $2,000 before the health insurance kicks in and mine is a good policy.”
I wouldn’t generalize too much from your experience. Most families have only the occasional medical expense except around pregnancy, very young children, and in old age. They might be worried about the deductible but don’t usually come close to paying it. True, some people go to the clinic all the time for little things and others have serious ongoing issues they have to get treated.
Probably marked down to $50 I’d imagine.
“In my rural area we gauge shopping by ebt fillup days. The small family owned market with the best in store butcher meat market in the county stocks up the lowest price cuts in the mega family packs the day before ebt day.”
Is this a story from years ago? I thought states had gone to staggered EBT disbursement dates all across the month.
“People have no money to spend. We see restaurants going out all the time.”
It just depends on your location. You mentioned Atlanta. I am somewhere else. Here, new restaurants are sprouting up like tumbleweeds (we have lots of those, too), and people spend money on new cars, remodelling, big boys’ toys. etc. The population is growing and they can’t find land for new schools.
Or maybe people have decided that they have enough “stuff.”
Where is here?
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