Tag: store closing

July 16, 2020

In Nordstrom JWN -2.1%’s mantra, the customer always comes first. That philosophy reflects the fact that customers have always been recognized as the company’s most valuable asset. However, since the outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s stores have […]

March 16, 2020

H&M group has temporarily shuttered stores across large parts of Europe, as governments take extraordinary measures to try and contain the escalating coronavirus pandemic. The closures signal more pain ahead for retailers, already suffering the aftershock of a widespread shut […]

February 5, 2020

Three regional grocers declared bankruptcy in the last week – Earth Fare, Lucky’s Market and Fairway. Here’s why this turmoil will likely spread to the big national chains. Earth Fare announced it will liquidate merchandise in all of its 50 […]

November 6, 2019

CVS — which years ago decided on a medical care focus that has entailed dropping lucrative tobacco sales, acquiring health insurer Aetna and developing a new clinic-based store concept — appears to be shrugging off its competition. Rival Walgreens is […]

September 13, 2019

The famed “retail apocalypse” of 2016 and 2017 never really ended. Hyperbolic as the term may have been, it described a very real period of structural change and consolidation in the industry that continues today. The drumbeat of retail Chapter […]

May 30, 2019

While Madewell’s growth has slowed, as seen in its same-store sales metric, which last year surged 31%, the brand remains the company’s beacon of hope. The company continues to mull taking Madewell public, which interim CEO Michael Nicholson on a […]

May 10, 2019

The word “helium” was mentioned 54 times on Party City’s quarterly conference call on Thursday. Without declines in sales attributable to the shortage, the retailer’s chief accountant said comps would have increased 0.7%. But the company also announced that it […]

May 8, 2019

Office Depot’s shift to business services through its CompuCom operations and its retail division hit a roadblock in the first quarter, and CEO Gerry Smith on a conference call with analysts Wednesday said the performance “clearly did not meet expectations.” […]

April 12, 2019

While earlier reports indicated that Fred’s would keep most or even all of its stores open, that is clearly not the plan. “After a careful review, we have made the decision to rationalize our footprint by closing underperforming stores, with […]

March 26, 2019

The clean-out of longstanding apparel brands from New York City’s Fifth Avenue shows that there’s really no landscape that’s immune from store closures. As retailers of all stripes move to stoke digital sales and abandon low-performing stores, the country is […]

February 1, 2019

H&M’s belated move to digital sales and data-based design is costing the apparel retail group. The company is climbing a learning curve. CEO Karl-Johan Persson cited “difficulties with the logistics upgrade” in some markets earlier in 2018, which led to […]

November 5, 2018

New CEO Marvin Ellison, who arrived in May from J.C. Penney, appears to be taking charge at Lowe’s by shaking up his leadership team at a time when competition is heating up with rival The Home Depot. Lowe’s in August […]

August 23, 2018

The decline of Sears’ physical footprint over the past decade or so has been astonishing, far outpacing its department store peers, and it shows no sign of stopping. In May, the company said it closed 108 stores (67 Kmarts and […]

August 1, 2018

This year, two iconic retail brands — Bon-Ton and Toys R Us — shut their doors in bankruptcy. Indeed, the year started with several bankruptcies in the early months, hinting that the crush of Chapter 11 filings in the industry, […]

May 31, 2018

Sears continues to far outpace its department store peers in store closures. So far, the moves still haven’t plugged the outflow of money from the company. Worse, the retailer’s sales base, seen in its comps, continues shrinking. Moody’s Vice President […]

May 11, 2018

The Morgan Stanley team, led by analysts Simeon Gutman and Kimberly Greenberger, are the latest to question the long-term performance potential for some traditional retailers. In a report earlier this week, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote that department stores may already […]

April 26, 2018

GNC continues in turnaround mode, and is seeing some of its best results overseas. Revenues in the U.S. and Canada segment fell 4.5% or $24.2 million to $512.4 million in the period, down from $536.6 million a year ago. But […]

March 16, 2018

Toys R Us plans on selling off or closing its remaining 700 U.S. stores. The 70-year-old toy store tried to keep doors open by filing for bankruptcy protection in September 2017, but by then the company was $5 billion in […]

March 5, 2018

In the latest exodus from the mall, Best Buy announced it is closing all 250 of its smaller format, mall-based stores. The locations sell mobile phones, device and accessories. Best Buy entered the small-scale mall business in 2006 riding the […]

May 4, 2016

Many explanations have been floated for the recent challenges faced by brick-and-mortar retailers, particularly department stores. The usual suspects include: competition from e-Commerce (even though most department stores also are omnichannel operations); the lingering effects of the recession; and fast […]