Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Business Insider on stores closing in the Retail Apocalypse

I am fulfulling my promise to "have more on Business Insider on the retail apocalypse with an emphasis on stores instead of malls" to conclude Business Insider on dead malls in the Retail Apocalypse with assistance from Dan Bell and Radiohead with two graphs and a video.

First, Business Insider reported last September that more than 6,400 stores were shutting down in 2017.  In true "a picture is worth 1000 words" fashion, they presented the data visually.


I wrote yesterday that I would write about the demise of Payless.  This graphic shows that Radio Shack is another famous chain I need to examine.  Once again, Retail Archeology has videos, which I will use when I post that follow-up.

The third company closing lots of stores is Ascena Retail Group.  I didn't know who they were, but I did know some of the chains they own, including Ann Taylor, Dress Barn, Lane Bryant, and Loft.  I might suggest Retail Archeology look at them.  He already has a video about Claire's.

Next, Business Insider followed up this April by reporting more than 3,800 stores will close in 2018.  The following graph displays the affected chains.


Both J.C. Penney and Macy's closed more stores last year than Sears and are still closing stores this year, but fewer than Sears both this year and overall.  That doesn't mean they're immune from my eye.  I'll look at both of them in the future as well.

Speaking of Sears, Business Insider also has a a video that goes along with  Part 1 and Part 2 of Sears, a tale of the retail apocalypse, We Went Inside A Sears And Saw Why The Company Is Dying.

We visited a Sears in Jersey City, New Jersey to see why the company is imploding. We were shocked by the dismal conditions on a Tuesday afternoon.

When asked for comment Sears spokesperson Howard Riefs responded with the following: "Some areas of this particular Sears store are in seasonal transition and other areas are in the midst of project work. For example, we recently moved the men’s department to the lower level and are in the process of replacing the carpeting in the former denim section. Nevertheless, the described images from this store are not representative of the majority of our Sears locations and do not depict what we want our members and customers to experience. We take these matters seriously and this store’s team has already begun addressing the issues. We hope your video depicts a comprehensive look at this store, which includes our all-new Showcase area featuring top international apparel, footwear and accessory brands that are debuting in America exclusively at Sears."
Yikes!  That's worse than anything Retail Archeology showed!

That's it for tales of the Retail Apocalypse for now.  Stay tuned for two more retrospectives of the seventh year of this blog tomorrow and Friday.

26 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Waitwaitwait, Teavanas are closing? This is getting serious!

    I bet the manager of that Sears got missiled hard over that video. But remember, this is what we can see. Who knows if Amazon's warehouses are any better?

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    1. It's all getting serious. My wife was upset about Lane Bryant closing stores, for example.

      Amazon is probably better organized than Sears. However, I've heard all kinds of horror stories about working conditions.

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    2. I remember as a kid looking through the Sears catalog, which was bigger than my hometown's phone book, and going into Sears with my parents. I especially liked going with dad to the hardware department, where there were all kinds of wonderful and interesting things for a boy to look at. Every August mom and I took our annual trip to Sears to get school clothes for the forthcoming school year.

      As a newlywed in the late 1970s it was the same and I remember having a shock while I was buying a Craftsman lawnmower and Craftsman tools for my home; I had a vivid memory of standing at the same counter with my dad when he was buying a lawnmower -- I was becoming my dad.

      The last time I was in a Sears was a couple of years ago and the store wasn't quite so junky as the video, but just as empty with extra-wide aisles and barely anything on the shelves. The hardware department that was so wonderful and full of everything, didn't even have the old Craftsman tools with their lifetime guarantee (I have since found them at Ace).

      Ghost town is exactly right. I saw even less people in the store and the only employees I saw were at the cash registers with nothing to do.

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    3. Thanks for your story. It was both moving and sad.

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Take your off topic spam and varnish it. Deleted.

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    1. On-topic, sort of, but in Thai. Nope, deleted.

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    1. Foreign exchange in Thai -- definitely off-topic. Deleted.

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    1. Persistent spammer, aren't you? I'll repeat what I wrote the first time you posted this comment: "Foreign exchange in Thai -- definitely off-topic. Deleted."

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  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. As Moon Unit Zappa once said, "bag your face!" Deleted.

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  12. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Repeating your text while linking to a pretty but irrelevant page in Thai will get your spam managed -- I mean deleted.

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