Posted on 12/27/2012 8:46:58 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
While 2013 will be a tough year for retailers due to the tepid economic recovery, a few in particular face a critical 12 months. Their experiences highlight the challenges facing store chains, from increasingly cautious consumers to fierce online competition.
These unlucky retailers are going into the New Year with extra woes: slipping sales, questionable strategies and tight finances—which is why they are the ones to watch, and not in a good way.
Best Buy Co. BBY -1.22% has been plagued by the retail phenomenon called "showrooming," where shoppers examine products in its stores but buy online through rivals. A quarter of shoppers who said they had showroomed had done so at Best Buy, according to a recent Harris Poll, so analysts will be watching to see if it can capture more of those sales on its own website.
J.C. Penney Co. JCP -4.48% has been trying to ditch its image as an old-fashioned department store where Middle America went seeking bargains. But its rapid and radical makeover has left it burning through cash and struggling to attract shoppers, leading to questions about how long the company can afford to stick to its new strategy.
RadioShack Corp.'s RSH -5.29% bet on mobile phones and tablets has backfired. It has sold more of these low-margin devices but is making less money than it did retailing old standards like cameras and computers. Though it staved off a cash crunch earlier this year by suspending its dividend, mounting losses cloud its future.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
What’s the fourth?
The article is behind a pay wall.
So who is number 4? I have no intention of signing up to WSJ.com to find out.
The link won’t let you read the story. What is the 4th retailer?
BTW, nobody mentions the real reason Penney’s is down. They were pushing their pro-homosexual agenda in their ads. That didn’t go over well with Penney’s core customers who are mostly middle-aged and older women.
Sears. Malls would flip over like Guam if you lose the anchor store at one end without losing the anchor store at the other.
Best Buy can just suck it. I refuse to go into a store that persists in believing that every customer is a frigging thief and relentlessly stops each customer for their papers (their receipts). I also hate your ‘salesmen’ techies that think they’ve got a degree in electrical engineering telling me I need a $200 roll of 25’ monster wire for my speakers.
JC Penney can just suck it, too. In 1986, I had their effing car insurance and had the misfortune of buying a a Nissan 300ZX Turbo; they promptly notified me they would not renew my policy. It is why I am with Cotton States insurance, still these 26 years hence. JC, just suck it! I hope you lose your ass and your cash. You just stay right there in those mauseleums we used to call Malls and die.
Radio Shack, you’ve been there when I needed you, and although you charge more for items of an electronic nature for the enthusiast, I won’t begrudge that because you are convenient. Hope you find a way to emerge successfully...
We call it “Phone Shack” now;although the store has other products and eveen some electronic parts,the parts like switches,resistors,ICs are hidden in opaque metal drawers in cabinets at the back of the store where few would notice.I would guess close to one-half the store space is phone s and related products.
Had not thought of Radio Shack but they might be in the worst shape of the bunch.
Thousands of stores meaning high overhead, and virtually the entire product mix is now related to cell phones, which can be bought at many other places. (the inside joke is “try and find the radio!”)
I remember them from my youth as the place you’d buy small electronic parts for hobbies. Not anymore.
Last time I shopped at Loews for a Dryer, I told them the rice was lower on the internet, they matched the internet price.
Headline said Sears.
IMHO, Sears should transition its stores into a “home center” type of business - concentrate on hardware, major appliances, and automotive. Get rid of clothing, housewares, jewelry, sporting goods, and everything else.
Good observation.
I congratulate you. :)
Yep. Like an up-thread poster, I call them "Cell Phone Shack".
I also resent that I'm badgered for personal information when I attempt to buy anything (including batteries).
Even their bankruptcy a few years back was botched. When Circuit City bought them out, they forgot to buy the Canadian trademark which was picked up by a rival. The courts gave them 48 hours to re-brand all of their stores and private label merchandise and the Circuit City brand was unknown here. Their current incarnation bought by Bell Canada when CC went bankrupt.
But I basically agree with you about Best Buy and JC Penney.
I think shifting their focus to consumer electronics was a huge mistake. Everyone sells gadgets but the hobby market is badly under-served these days.
Radio Shack, a main stay for me for 40 years. But electronics is not the hobby it once was and no one “fixes” anything anymore because it is either to hard or to cheap not to just replace it.
I still piddle around and every once in a while need something, but with folks like me disappearing over the years RS has been searching for its place. I fear it may not find it.
The WSJ’s paywall is a strange, if futile, beast.
Copy and paste a couple of paragraphs from any story into Google and you get link to the full story like this:
Odd but as long as it works I don’t question it!
Pffft! I refuse to shop at Sears for hardware anymore. I used to swear by Craftsman tools for everything, esp. their automotive tools. They used to warranty everything for life. Any time I broke a Craftsman tool or part, bent a box wrench, or tore up a socket wrench, I could go back and get a replacement free of charge.
Nowadays, they make inferior products and don't warranty them unless you pay an exorbitant replacement warranty fee, and knowing how Murphy's Law works, it always breaks AFTER the warranty period is up. I point to several drivers, a shop vac, two reciprocating saws, a table saw, and a router as proof.
I've gone over to De Walt, Makita, and Kobalt almost exclusively. At least the products go the distance.
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