Posted on 04/29/2016 6:54:23 PM PDT by kaehurowing
Why Sports Authority is throwing in the towel and closing all of its stores
When struggling retailer Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month in the face of more than $1 billion in debt, the company indicated that it had two options going forward.
One of those was to shed underperforming stores and emerge from bankruptcy as an intact, but pared-down company. The other was to sell everything and cease operating.
On Tuesday, the company appeared to choose the latter.
. . .
“With the minimum wage going up to $15 an hour and more people turning to online shopping, more stores are going to close,” Lempert said. “It’s fine to say that everyone should have a living wage. But the money has to come from somewhere.”
(Excerpt) Read more at pasadenastarnews.com ...
Is the $15/hr minimum wage even in effect anywhere yet?
They managed to drive their nationwide chain into bankruptcy and are blaming a few cities where the minimum wage is supposed to go up over the next few years?
It does seem to be a thing recently but more coincidence than correlation.
Kind of a joke. It seems that several companies bought naming rights to stadiums and went out of business later on. Not really related, but a fun meme.
There was one in Sanfransicko a year or so ago, maybe
“It seems that several companies bought naming rights to stadiums and went out of business later on. Not really related, but a fun meme.”
Aaaah,like the short lived CMGI Field here in Massachusetts.
.
Now your order arrives that afternoon.
No guns either.
Yep, things move a lot quicker now. 😀
Is the $15/hr minimum wage even in effect anywhere yet?
California just upped theirs, which I suspect forced a revaluation of Sports Authority (since I think a majority of their stores are in California) and showed it couldn’t survive.
It isn’t just hitting Sports Authority. U.C. Berkeley announced that it was laying off 500 employees and every department had to cut their budget by 10% in order to compensate for the wage raise effects.
The City of Berkeley had already raised their wage, and I’ve read a number of stories about stores and restaurants closing because of that.
Think there are other places like Seattle and Portland that have also raised their wage and companies are going under.
“Minimum wage increases kill off Sports Authority. Stupid leftist legislation has consequences.”
BS. Colorado is their home and we don’t have a $15 minimum wage. SA is simply a poorly run business. A very poorly run business.
Most companies are due to liberalism they suffer from.
Modell’s?
Decreasing revenues between government and its services for less recirculating debt. Why, that’s just terrible.
Calling yourself Sports Authority and ceasing all sales of guns and ammo couldn’t have helped...
Well if you’re really lucky, losing this box store will pave the way for one or more locally-owned stores to pop up and serve your local market. Books have been written on the subject but communities are vastly better served by smaller locally owned stores - see https://ilsr.org/
I won’t paste it in because it’s huge but take a look at the infographic here:
https://ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Amazon_Infographic_1200px.png
I do not think bricks and mortar is dead, but needs a phase shift...
I do most of my shopping online - and use safer methods to pay such as paypal instead of credit card, another reason I shop online but only those sites that accept paypal.
BUT NOT FOR EVERYTHING.
For example, I just bought a Seiko watch online at a bargin price. Wallets, healthcarr goods even, vitamins, knives, books, etc., I get online...
But what about clothes? For example, I like tennis jackets. Such things I buy in the store, not online. So as far as sporting goods, I would buy a baseball glove in the store, not online. In fact, I am thinking of going tomorrow to buy a baseball glove so me and my wife can toss a ball around, have fun and get exercise. But I might buy a pedometer online.
So I think stores such as Sports Authority need to focus on items that you would not typically buy online. I went into one last year, looking for a nice tennis jacket - they didn’t have one! I don’t mind spending more for a better jacket, baseball mit, camping stuff such as sleeping bags or tents - none of this I would buy online. I did notice Sports Authority had some cool GPS items, but that I would buy online. But they didn’t have a tennis jacket.
Now for SOME clothes, where the size doesn’t change and it’s just a matter of “which color?”, an example Dickies shirts, the cut is the same, I wear them a lot for around the house or days off, I can buy online...
... but not hiking boots. I have to try hiking boots on, for that matter most all shoes or boots.
My wife pretty much only buys in stores.
So, I think brick and morter will still be around and has a great future. But they just need to refocus on items that folks typically cannot, or would not, buy online. In fact, I am sort of getting sick of cheap-o stuff and am looking more for quality these days, take a guitar for example. Would you buy a guitar online (other than for collectors purpose or auction)? Sure, you will buy a DVD online, a music CD, etc... but what about a guitar? Not me.
I think QUALITY bricks and morter has a great, ongoing, future.
Shoes!!!!
They lost my business years ago when they stopped selling firearms as a political statement...
True enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is a changing world, and all of the “good intentions” of socialist legislators can’t alter that.
Nor can they legislate the laws of economics. Eventually reality asserts itself.
464 stores. Think about it. As a vendor I’ve been screwed by retailers going bankrupt. It hurts...a lot. And a lot of vendors are not gigantic corporations that can easily take the hit of losing a customer with that many stores. On net 30 terms how deep do you think SA can get into their vendors? Pretty deep.
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