Hard times suit the country's ultra-handy 7-11 descendants
Washington Post Nov 8, 08 5:08 AM CST
(Newser)
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Japan's ultra-convenient convenience stores are one of the few bright spots in the nation's struggling economy, the Washington Post reports. Business is booming at the 40,000 stores nationwide, which offer everything from hot soup to cold beer to fresh sushi. Customers can pay their bills, book travel, and even get their blood pressure checked by a machine at these ultimate one-stop shops.
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Ominous sign of dismal holiday season
New York Times Nov 7, 08 6:04 AM CST
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Retail sales plummeted last month ahead of the holiday shopping season—which threatens to be the worst in decades, the New York Times reports. The downturn ran the gamut from upscale department stores to shops like the Gap. Neiman Marcus saw a 28% drop compared with the same month last year. Sales fell 20% at Abercrombie & Fitch, and Saks sales plunged 16%.
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All of chain's 149 stores to be liquidated before end of year
Inside Bay Area (Oakland) Oct 18, 08 6:39 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Mervyn's will be closing all of its 149 stores before the end of the year and holding huge going-out-of business sales, the Bay Area's Daily Review reports. The California-based department store chain filed for bankruptcy in July and had been fruitlessly scrambling for a sale or a deal with landlords and creditors that would keep it alive. More than 3,000 jobs will be lost in the Bay Area alone.
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Computer systems help max productivity, cut costs
Wall Street Journal Sep 10, 08 6:37 AM CDT
(Newser)
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As a sluggish economy pinches retailers, many are now turning to computer programs to track employee productivity, the Wall Street Journal reports. At Ann Taylor stores, a computer system calculates average sales per hour, units sold, and dollars per transaction —then automatically schedules the best workers during the store’s peak hours.
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Switch to cheaper goods is broadest
since early '80s
Wall Street Journal Jul 11, 08 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser)
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As fuel prices and home foreclosures steadily rise, Americans are trading down in everything from automobiles to their lunch options. That's not unusual in an economic downturn, but the speed with which it's happening is, the Wall Street Journal reports. And the flight to the affordable and generic is affecting the broadest array of goods since the recession of the early 1980s.
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Gap-style training creates a generation
of neat freaks
Wall Street Journal Jul 9, 08 9:49 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Countless current and former retail workers have an obsessive urge to fold clothes ironed into their brains, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Gap started the trend for tightly folded displays in the '80s and rivals quickly followed suit. A whole generation of retail alumni spent thousands of hours folding and is now unable to tolerate the sight of imperfectly folded T-shirts.
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Each default brings widespread fallout
New York Times Apr 15, 08 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Stores across the country are closing their doors, the New York Times reports, victims of a downturn in consumer spending. Retailers are often heavily leveraged, and as the economy falters banks are tightening credit. Several chains, including Sharper Image, have declared bankruptcy; others like Footlocker, Ann Taylor, and Zales are closing stores to stay afloat. “You have the makings of a wave of significant bankruptcies,” said a former Kmart executive.
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Home-furnishings giant may be first retail victim of market crisis
Wall Street Journal Apr 11, 08 6:50 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Linens ‘n Things ls expected to file for Chapter 11 by Tuesday, the deadline for a $15-million quarterly debt payment, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move would make the home-furnishings giant the first major retailer sunk by the housing crisis, after bloated debt and plummeting demand handed the New Jersey company $242 million in losses last year.
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Store closings rise along with gas prices, foreclosures
Associated Press Mar 11, 08 3:59 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Soaring gas prices and a still-boiling housing crisis are taking their toll on America's smaller retailers, with store bankruptcies and vacancy rates rising steadily as customers avoid impulse-buys that once fueled the industry's rapid expansion, reports AP. Vacancies hover between 7% and 8%, up from 5% just six months ago—and some analysts predict rates as high as 12.5% by the end of 2008.
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Execs confer with Arab community to open Mideast-themed Michigan megastore
Newsweek Mar 4, 08 2:57 AM CST
(Newser)
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Tahini, olives and frozen falafel line the shelves in a new Michigan Wal-Mart in Dearborn that caters to local customers: in this case, the nation's largest Arab-American community. The 200,000-square-foot megastore, which opens today, even has a section for Halal meats culled in accordance with Islamic law, Newsweek reports.
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Wal-Mart, other major chains aren't hiding lubricants and the like
Newsweek Feb 15, 08 2:25 PM CST
(Newser)
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Be careful letting your kids wander in Wal-Mart—the retail giant and other mainstream stores are devoting more shelf space to sex aids, Newsweek reports, and they aren’t hiding it. Lubricants, oils and even vibrators are increasingly appearing next to contraceptives and pregnancy tests. “Even the more conservative retailers have come over,” says an executive of one sex-aid company.
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Retailers add revenue when they're used, but states want their share
BusinessWeek Jan 27, 08 2:19 PM CST
(Newser)
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After enduring tepid holiday sales, retailers are happily awaiting $8 billion from shoppers with unused gift cards—because only then can sellers claim the added revenue, BusinessWeek reports. But some US states say that their unclaimed-property laws enable them to extract a piece of the left-over card pie. What's really up for grabs is revenue from millions of cards that are lost or forgotten and go unspent.
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Sagging fortunes since 2005 merger with Kmart prompts a shakeup
Wall Street Journal Jan 19, 08 6:26 AM CST
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Foundering retailer Sears is hoping yet another change of course can help it sail out of its financial doldrums after watching its stock value drop in half this year and warning investors fourth-quarter earnings would plummet 57% from a year ago, reports the Wall Street Journal. Chairman Edward Lampert plans a reorganization creating as many as three dozen separate operating units.
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All stores to close after the holidays
Associated Press Dec 8, 07 6:28 AM CST
(Newser)
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CompUSA has been sold to a restructuring company and will be ending retail operations after the holidays, AP reports. The troubled electronics retailer, bought by Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim in 1999, closed more than half its outlets in the spring after repeated turnaround efforts failed. Gordon Brothers Group will close the remaining 103 stores after holiday closing sales.
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As economy lags,
big chains open
fewer stores
CNN Dec 7, 07 2:15 PM CST
(Newser)
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America's biggest retailers are beginning to ease up on the construction of new stores, reversing the if-we-build-it-they-will-come trend of recent years, CNNMoney reports. Faced with decreasing sales in a slowing economy, chains such as Wal-Mart, Target, Starbucks, McDonald's, and Walgreen either have cut back on new stores or are considering doing so.
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