Retail Apocalypse? Major Chains Closing Hundreds Of Stores

http://newswatch.us ^ | February 11 2014 | D. Jennings

[Para-Ord.45]

Hundreds of stores across the nation are closing as some of America’s most famous retailers struggle to stay in business. The country is facing what CNBC has labeled a tsunami of store closings and blogger Michael Snyder has called a retail apocalypse.

JC Penney, which lost $586 million in three months in 2013, is planning to close 33 stores in 19 states and lay off 2,000 people. JC Penney’s stock has lost 84 percent of its value since February 2012.

Sears has decided to shut down its flagship store in Downtown Chicago, and it has closed 300 stores in the United States since 2010.

Macy’s, one of the few retail success stories, is planning to close five stores and eliminate 2,500 jobs.

Radio Shack is preparing to close 500 stores, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Best Buy recently closed 50 stores and eliminated 950 jobs at stores in Canada.

Target announced plans to eliminate 475 jobs and not fill 700 empty positions to reduce costs

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Carson’s was bought by Bergner’s in 1989, sold to Saks in 1998, and sold to Bon-Ton in 2006.

[GOPJ]

Homeland Security protects the rights of illegals... They don’t give a damn about protecting us from radical Muslims. It’s the same with the FBI - they’re ‘oh so concerned’ about right wing grandparents...

And what does this have to do with this story? Many of us have switched to shopping at Amazon or Costco.

This Christmas I didn’t step into one Mall the whole season .. and I wasn’t alone in that choice. It will be the same next year.

Eff you, you waste of tax dollar ‘protectors’...

[GeronL]

I’ll be stopping by Office Depot tonight or tomorrow for an ethernet cable, I wonder if it will be a ghost town?

[Maringa]

Combination of many things - economy, online retail, but one observation that I have had is that the younger generation isn’t as keen to buy/get “things” like we used to...Many people are downsizing, so there is a lot of stuff out there for sale on ebay/craigslist in a down economy...

It’s going to take years to recover, and reach a new plateau (which will be lower than years past)...The new normal....

We are quickly becoming Japan...I was over there last year and noticed that everything except in a few areas...is stuck in the 80’s...Architecture, shopping malls, etc...People are just buying essentials, nothing more...

[RandallFlagg]

That’s a pretty cool site. Thanks for posting it.

[GOPJ]

But this is good news isn’t it? According to Democrats at least. Now all these employees can be free from the drudgery of work. They can stay home and sit on their butts and enjoy life.

Nah, democrats want them to write poetry or maybe dabble in Art.

We can look at people democrats have made dependent - and see how well that 'free time' has worked for them. Guess we can count on a new crop of drug addicts and losers... Thanks democrats... for nothing.

[JPG]

What could possibly go wrong at JC Penney?

[lulu16]

We still have Barnes and Noble here. How I used to love to sit and drink while perusing their stacks. They are pricey, but at the time it was a wonderful way to discover new books and be surrounded by books and people watch.

[houeto]

Several thousand employees who voted for King Obama will no longer have to endure the daily agony of Job-Lock.

The dreaded Job-Lock! We need to help many others get out of it. Check tag FRiend.

[Chickensoup]

One thing that I have noticed about stores like Macy's is that they are severely understaffed and that my guess is that they really don't care if someone walks out with merchandise. Probably less expensive for them to take the losses than have the staff on.

[CorporateStepsister]

Either way, the best are now going into business for themselves, not waiting around to be picked out and made to fit a specifically politically correct criteria.

[Wuli]

this is not as much of a concern

IF there is not also growth with other retailers and other forms of retailing (Internet) that offset the specific store closings in the report

for instance, they mentioned J.C. Penney and Target, but I think Kohls, who gives some competition to both of them seems to be doing very well

and, they mentioned Sears, but Sears just made-over a Kmart store in our area not long ago, still operates the Sears store in the closest mall and has another Kmart south of here

and, I think Best Buy is actually picking up and Radio Shack has multiple competitors, including on some certain items Best Buy and on some items Staples and Office Depot/Max, and on some items the local Home Depot or Lowes

and, many of the closings may be long overdue with their least performing stores, meaning not a retreat from retailing but seeking a better ROI, an ROI that certain locations cannot (cannot any longer) provide

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Bull. This assumes that people will just stop buying clothes and food and appliances simply because a store near them closes.

People will stop buying because they have no money because they don't have jobs.

Those that still have jobs will cut back on their buying because it costs more to drive further to buy.

[reformedliberal]

Thanks.

I totally forgot about Bergner’s.

[SunkenCiv]

Kmart’s error IMHO came from buying Sears and not taking advantage of the opportunity to shed the Kmart brand, rebranding (and retooling) all their former stores into new Sears stores. But that was just one of a fairly long series of stupid moves, such as taking on Walmart/Sam’s with the Pace warehouses; pulling the plug on the Pace warehouses rather than tweaking them to get it right (like beating Sam’s to various cities), losing more money in the process; buying or starting new brands of specialty stores (I think Builder’s Square was one; a bookstore chain was another, right near the beginning of the digital downloading revolution) while (to my memory) failing to move into growth areas (we have RiteAid, Walgreen, and CVS popping up like mushrooms, one of those chains would have made a good partner or acquisition; same goes for the cash-and-carry discount grocery stores like Aldi and Savalot; same went for electronics category killers like MediaPlay, Circuit City, Yes, and oh yeah, Best Buy).

Dollar General has started to surge back these past few years, but is a direct competitor to Family Dollar, not Kmart. They used to be crappy versions of Family Dollar, and came in about the same time, but basically all but one vanished probably no more recently than ten years ago. I’m not too sure the one that used to be up on Plainfield by Fat Boy survived that either.

Family Dollar stores are more familiar to me, they bring a miniature version of the department store or actually the old ‘dry goods’ stores, back to the ‘hood, tending to be built in financially iffy areas where local shopping had been almost beyond human memory.

The Family Dollar up on eastern Leonard St in Grand Rapids is literally nextdoor to a Savealot, and stocks inexpensive (and sometimes attractive) home decor alongside laundry soaps, other cleaning stuff, kitchen utensils, low-end electronics, cigarettes (that’s pretty recent I think), refill cards for mobile, prepaid credit cards, and some basic, high-volume grocery items like milk.

I agree that Kmart stock is probably not a great idea, but that goes for retail more generally; as part of a diversified portfolio, having a little tied up in a group of retail stocks probably makes sense, since the US economy is mostly about selling stuff rather than making stuff. The only assets of Kmart that may be worth something here and there are the property on which the stores stand.

I had a family member who worked for decades for Kmart; as the decline began (this is in the area of 30-35 years already) she lost what had been a cheerful enthusiasm for working there when the company (run by a topheavy group of golden-parachute types) started to cut hours, benefits, and staff. It was the unimaginative bean-counters who destroyed Kmart’s future prospects, and that opened the opportunity for Target and Walmart — and yet it’s generally portrayed as the other way around.

[firebrand]

Starbux seems to be doing fine. We now have stores at 93 and Broadway, 95 and Broadway, 99 and Broadway, and 104 and Broadway. When you can look out the windows of a Starbux and see another one, it would appear that they are too close together, but they’re all packed, even the new one with no electrical outlets and no bathroom.

[1010RD]

I cannot speak for every state, but in Cook County Illinois an empty store automatically cuts its property tax by 50%.

That tax burden is then transferred to the remaining commercial and residential properties.

This will break local, county and state government here.

[1010RD]

Malls are the invention of central planners. Zoning committees hate liberty and Zoning Departments are fully staffed with true believer central planners. They’re losers who can’t bear to see you win.

They killed the corner store, but now that bicycle riding and “buy local” are back in style, they’re reconsidering their original planning.

Government is behind most of the mess of the 20th century, as are crony capitalists.

[sheana]

I don’t shop at any of these stores. Macys, JC Penney, and Sears are in malls....I don’t do malls. I buy all my clothing and accessories at mainly Nordstrom’s Rack and get designer stuff for usually less than what Target charges for their crap. Buy all my electronics and cables, etc. from Ebay or Amazon for considerably less than what Best Buy or Radio Shack charges.
I am a discerning shopper and have discerned that all these stores are not worth my time. Apparently others agree. lol

[tomkat]