Retail Archaeology asks 'Kohl's: Who Would Want To Buy This?'

I closed Company Man asks 'The Decline of Forever 21...What Happened?' — a tale of the Retail Apocalypse by telling my readers "I have another video about the Retail Apocalypse to share from Erik of Retail Archaeology. Stay tuned." Here is Erik asking Kohl's: Who Would Want To Buy This?

In this episode we take a look at Kohl's. They're for sale, but why would anyone want to buy them?

Before I watched this video, I did not know that Kohl's currently has the most locations of any department store chain, passing JCPenney, which survived bankruptcy after closing more than 150 stores. It's a good day when I learn something new.

Kohl's has been having problems since the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly two years ago, CNBC asked Can Kohl's Survive?

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Kohl's closed all of its stores nationwide on March 19, and wasn't able to reopen until early May. Like many other retailers, Kohl's has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, seeing its stock plummet more than 65% in 2020. Coupled with being a primarily brick-and-mortar business in an era where online retail remains enormously popular, Kohl's fight to stay alive is a tough one.

Once again, companies that were in trouble before the Retail Apocalypse, or in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic, are the ones that are failing now. Kohl's may not have been an obvious example, given that Company Man uploaded Kohl's - Why They're Successful before the pandemic hit, but in retrospect, the chain turned out to be no exception.

Follow over the jump for the latest in the acquisition contest Erik mentioned in his video.

Company Man asks 'The Decline of Forever 21...What Happened?' — a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

It's been more than two months since I last wrote about the Retail Apocalypse in Retail Archaeology thinks 'The End Is Near' for Sears and Kmart, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, so it's time I return to the topic with Company Man Mike asking The Decline of Forever 21...What Happened?

One of the country's biggest clothing stores has fallen on some tough times. This video talks about why Forever 21 has been having so much trouble.

Company Man Mike did a good job of summarizing the story of Forever 21 and updating what happened since I wrote CNBC explains why U.S. malls are disappearing, plus Forever 21 and Brooks Brothers saved for now, tales of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic on March 5, 2021. In particular, I like his list of liabilities for the company.


I also appreciated that Company Man Mike mentioned the environmental costs of fast fashion. That's something that's important to me.

I have another video about the Retail Apocalypse to share from Erik of Retail Archaeology. Stay tuned.

The 2021 EMA Awards for World Environment Day 2022

Happy World Environment Day! Because I promised the Sunday entertainment feature today, I am celebrating the day by blogging about the 2021 EMA Awards, presented by the Environmental Media Association on October 16, 2021. Better late than never!


"No Sudden Move" won Feature Film over "The Tomorrow War" and "Vivo." If I had blogged about the nominees when they were announced, I'd have picked "The Tomorrow War" because it's about an alien invasion facilitated by climate change and fought using time travel. That summary looks outlandish, but trust me, it's better than it sounds. I would have also understood the nomination for "Vivo" because of its appreciation for the natural world. I would have puzzled over the inclusion of "No Sudden Move" because it's a modern film noir with no obvious environmental content. I had to read the movie's plot summary page to find out that the film's MacGuffin is a "document [that] is revealed to be plans for a catalytic converter, seeking to conceal its existence from public knowledge and avoid governmental pressure on the car companies to implement pollution controls." Now I understand why it was nominated. Based on its cast and production values, I can also understand why it won, too. It's probably eligible for the Emmy Awards and might also be eligible for a Saturn Award along with "The Tomorrow War" and "Vivo."

Speaking of awards, this is the only award I can find for "No Sudden Move," but its IMDB page doesn't list it. In fact, I can't find any mention of the 2021 EMA Awards on IMDB despite The Hollywood Reporter covering it. The most recent year with a page is 2020, which only lists one of the nominees for Documentary Film, "The Story of Plastic," but not the winner, "Ted Turner: Captain Planet." That's it. 2018 and 2019 are even worse as they list a creator and two of his projects winning awards in categories that I can find no evidence of ever existing or that haven't been bestowed since 2002 but none of the actual nominees or winners. In fact, the last year with an even halfway complete list of winners and nominees is 2017, the year that turned me onto the award. Finding this out is enough to convince me to ask if the EMA has an official representative for IMDB to correct these errors or Charity Navigator to improve its rating in addition to my New Year's resolution from 2020 to see if I can vote for these awards when I join.

Time to climb out of that rabbit hole and write about the rest of the nominees and winners.


On the other hand, I predicted "I Am Greta" would be nominated for an EMA Award and would have picked it to win over "Jonathan Scott’s Power Trip" and "Purple Mountains," so I'm not the least bit surprised it won. The only thing that surprised me was that I also predicted "David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet" would earn a nomination here, but it didn't. That may be because industry representatives have to submit their works to the EMA for consideration and I suspect that Netflix didn't do that, which is probably why "My Octopus Teacher" wasn't nominated, either. In fact, while "Vivo" is streaming on Netflix, EMA lists Sony Pictures Entertainment instead. There are no mentions of Netflix on the winners page at all. On the other hand, the Emmy Awards snubbed "I Am Greta" while "David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet" earned five Emmy nominations and three wins. I suspect Netflix is OK with that.

Follow over the jump for the television winners.

'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee' goes to the NRA Convention

I concluded Trevor Noah examines gun violence by telling my readers "Samantha Bee uploaded videos about the NRA convention, which Jimmy Kimmel satirized, so I have at least one more post on this topic tomorrow. Stay tuned." I begin with the segment that was actually broadcast, Bad Timing: 2022 NRA Convention.

Amy Hoggart travels to Houston to talk to attendees of one of the most poorly timed events in history - the annual NRA convention - taking place 300 miles away and only four days after a mass school shooting in Uvalde.

I haven't featured Amy Hoggart since Full Frontal focuses on furries for April Fools Day, but this segment shows that I should put her in the spotlight more often. Her interviews are both hilarious and insightful. As for the serious point in the middle of all the comedy, it's a version of Upton Sinclair's "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." I don't know if any of the interviewees salaries depend on not understanding how their advocacy for gun rights has contributed to mass shootings and other gun violence, but I'm sure their self-images do, and I think that's just as important an impediment to understanding.

Hoggart also got two other points across, that none of the people she interviewed could mention the "well-regulated militia" opening clause of the Second Amendment, turning it into what I call the "Second Ammoment." She also mentioned the NRA's lobbying efforts. Samantha Bee herself tackled both of these in the web exclusive segment How the NRA Went From Responsible Gun Organization to Politically-Motivated Liars.

How did the NRA go from advocating for responsible gun ownership to a fringe extremist organization? No, they didn’t leave YouTube on autoplay. This is a digital exclusive.

Again, while the NRA has contributed a lot of money to politicians and influenced their positions, they're not as powerful as they once were. That's the good news. The bad news is that even more extreme organizations have filled the vacuum and performing the same function as the NRA, which has declared bankruptcy and moved to Texas. It reminds me of FDR saying "Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob." The gun rights people are both.

That's it for this series, for now. Stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.

Trevor Noah examines gun violence

As I promised at the end of Samantha Bee reminds us that 'Congress Has the Power to Stop Mass Shootings' I'm continuing my series examining late-night talk show hosts looking at guns with clips from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. I begin with Trevor Debunking Conservatives’ Excuses for Gun Violence.*

The latest wave of mass shootings in America has led Republican lawmakers to suggest solutions that involve everything but actual gun control.

As Trevor pointed out, it's not music, video games, not going to church, or too many doors that contribute to gun violence, but the number and access to guns, particularly weapons like the AR-15.

Trevor had the same guest that Seth Meyers did, Sen. Chris Murphy - Finding Common Ground on Gun Safety.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy shares details from the bipartisan gun reform conversations following the Uvalde shooting, discusses how the once unbreakable gun lobby is now losing steam, and explains why the current Senate rules have restricted action.

The good news is that Senators are talking across the aisle and that the formal gun lobby, particularly the NRA, has less power. The bad news is that the Senate rules are an impediment to getting things done, something Mitch McConnell, who prides himself on being the Grim Reaper for progressive legislation, takes advantage of. It doesn't help that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema won't vote to end the filibuster to removed the roadblock. As I wrote three years ago, "Ugh. It's enough to drive one to drink."

I close with a segment pointing out the ridiculousness of blaming too many doors for the shooting, America’s Door Problem & What Foreigners Think About the USA’s Mass Shootings.

How do we stop mass shootings in America? The answer is simple: fewer doors. Michael Kosta talks to foreigners about the real threat.

The tourists see this suggestion as silly, which it is.

*It was a good thing I wrote "probably finish this series" yesterday, as Samantha Bee uploaded videos about the NRA convention, which Jimmy Kimmel satirized, so I have at least one more post on this topic tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Samantha Bee reminds us that 'Congress Has the Power to Stop Mass Shootings'

I concluded the body of Jimmy Kimmel's reactions to last week's school shooting yesterday with "While I'm done with the late-night hosts on the broadcast networks reacting to the tragedy, I still have cable hosts to examine. Stay tuned." I begin this part of the series with Samantha Bee reminding her viewers Congress Has the Power to Stop Mass Shootings.

We’re pretty deep in denial if we don’t think guns and lax gun laws are making this problem infinitely worse.

Tell us what you really think, Sam. Seriously, she has a lot more to say about guns and she said most of them in Full Frontal Wants to Take Your Guns - Full Special last year. It's sad but amazing how timely it still is.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee presents ‘Full Frontal Wants To Take Your Guns,’ a special to address how America’s gun problem got this bad, and what we as citizens of this glorious mess can do to help fix it.

That's certainly a comprehensive, if comedic, explanation of the problem and an agenda to deal with it, including federal funding of studies of gun violence. I also found the comparison to traffic, and deaths in 2020 striking as well as the deregulated deathmobile her show deconstructed to make the point about auto safety. The last time I featured a car like that, I was blogging about Mad Max and I don't think even those cars were as deadly for their drivers as this monstrosity!

I will probably finish this series tomorrow with clips from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Stay tuned.

Jimmy Kimmel's reactions to last week's school shooting

I finished Colbert and Corden express their grief and outrage over school shooting in Texas by telling my readers "Stay tuned for the first post of June 2022, which will probably feature Jimmy Kimmel's reactions to last week's tragedy." Watch Jimmy Kimmel on Elementary School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Jimmy responds to the tragic school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and talks about 89% of Americans wanting background checks, our cowardly leaders listening to the NRA instead of the people they actually represent, firearms becoming the #1 leading cause of death for American children and teens, Ted Cruz speaking at an NRA event this weekend, the 27 school shootings so far this year in America, and making sure that lawmakers do something about common-sense gun laws. If you can, please support Everytown in their fight against gun violence. https://www.everytown.org/

Jimmy gave the most passionate speech by any of the network late-night hosts so far.* His writers and editors also compiled a comprehensive collection of clips showing the news coverage. Finally, Jimmy impressed me by mentioning a specific gun-control group and telling his viewers to put their money where their mouths are by donating to it. So far, they've contributed $58,738.00.

Jimmy returned with Ted Cruz Vows to Stop Gun Violence by Abolishing Doors & More Terrible Ideas from Terrible Leaders, complete with a studio audience.

Ted Cruz is claiming that America has a door problem instead of a gun problem, the Attorney General in Texas wants to arm teachers, Tucker Carlson did his usual “could it be that” routine in an attempt to connect the shooting to the pandemic, Lindsey Graham still can’t put his finger on why these acts of violence keep happening, Marjorie Taylor Greene won her district primary and rallied her many faithful followers with an inspiring speech, former football star Herschel Walker beamed into “Fox and Friends” to share his well-formed thoughts on how to prevent another shooting, an appeals court ruled that Donald, Ivanka and Don Jr. must sit for depositions as part of an investigation into their family business, Trump is pushing back on Kellyanne Conway’s claim that she told him he lost to Joe Biden in 2020, we are getting more details about what Tannibal Lector was doing during the riot on January 6th, a new edition of This Week in Florida, Kanye is in business with McDonald’s, and This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.

Just like Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert, Jimmy found Ted Cruz's suggestions about doors ridiculous as well as dangerous. Yes, local fire departments would have a problem with it and restricting ingress and egress to schools would likely cause even more deaths from fires than they would save from guns.

Jimmy continued in last night's Trump & Ted Cruz Headline NRA’s Meeting of the Mindless and Republicans Blame EVERYTHING But Guns.

Guillermo is back from COVID quarantine, thousands of flights were canceled over the weekend due to COVID and other issues, the NRA held their annual meeting of the mindless three days after the shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, thousands of NRA members showed up to say that we don’t have a gun problem, Ted Cruz was on hand to talk about his door plan, Trump busted out his serious teleprompter voice to offer his expert opinion on what needs to be done, Republicans are working overtime this week to shift the blame onto anything but guns, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado was out and about at a rally in Wyoming, Marjorie Taylor Greene proved that she is one of our nation’s clearest and most exhilarating thinkers, President Biden hosted Korean boy band BTS at the White House, and we asked men passing by on Hollywood Blvd to give their thoughts on the big MMA fight this weekend between Roe & Wade in a confounding edition of Lie Witness News.

Welcome back, Guillermo! I was wondering where you were while watching the second clip. As for Cruz, The Former Guy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert, they're nothing if not consistent in their awfulness.

While I'm done with the late-night hosts on the broadcast networks reacting to the tragedy, I still have cable hosts to examine. Stay tuned.

*I found Kimmel even more impassioned than Meyers, Colbert, or even Corden, which made me wonder why "Entertainment Tonight" featured Colbert and Corden instead. I was not surprised to read on Wikipedia that Paramount Streaming owns the show and CBS Media Ventures distributes the syndicated entertainment newsmagazine series. The same is true of "Inside Edition." No wonder "Inside Edition" had a segment on Taps Across America, a CBS project. As I first wrote about CNN defending Big Bird after Ted Cruz called one of the character's tweets "Propaganda," "It's not just news value that's driving it."

Colbert and Corden express their grief and outrage over school shooting in Texas

I concluded Seth Meyers takes closer looks at guns by suggesting I do the same for other shows.

Meyers isn't the only late-night talk show host with blistering monologues on guns and guests favoring gun control. Both Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel did as well. Maybe I will post them, too. Stay tuned.

I begin today's follow-up with Entertainment Tonight's Texas School Shooting: Stephen Colbert and James Corden Near Tears.

Stephen Colbert and James Corden address the tragic Texas school shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 19 students and two adults.

While that's pretty much all parts of Stephen Colbert's monologue about the shooting, it's only part of James Corden's Message After the Texas School Shooting, so I'm sharing it in its entirety.

After at least 20 people were shot and killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, James shares his sense of heartbreak about the day's events and frustration about the way nothing ever seems to change when it comes to America's rampant gun violence.

I found that just as moving as James's speech in James Corden, Global News, and Kamala Harris on CNN update gun control for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News three years ago.

I'm returning to Stephen for the rest of the post, beginning with his first guest the day of the show, who said "We Will Buy Them Back And We Will Destroy Them" - PM Jacinda Ardern On Gun Control In New Zealand.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern outlines what her country's government did to enact sensible gun control after a terrible mass shooting in Christchurch.

Prime Minister Ardern also talked about what her country did to reduce the effects of the pandemic, something I haven't written about before. In fact, I've never mentioned New Zealand's Prime Minister before. Welcome to the blog, Prime Minister!*

Follow over the jump for two of Stephen's monologues about guns and another guest who discussed the topic.

Taps Across America on Memorial Day 2022

I wish my readers a somber Memorial Day. For this year's observance, I'm featuring Taps Across America again. Watch Inside Edition asking What Is ‘Taps Across America’ Memorial Day Tribute?

Veterans and other people all across America are answering a special Memorial Day request this year. At precisely 3 p.m. local time, wherever they are, they will all be playing “Taps.” One third-generation veteran will be strumming his guitar, while another man took trumpet lessons for seven months to be able to participate. The powerful tribute was dreamed up by CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman, who says, “The amazing thing about ‘Taps’ is it means different things to different people.”

WUSA9 gave more airtime to Steve Hartman in Show your patriotic spirit this Memorial Day during "Taps across America".

CBS News Correspondent Steve Hartman urges musicians to play "Taps" at 3pm on Memorial Day to honor Americans who gave their lives for our country.

While the CBS Sunday Morning video I embedded two years ago mentioned Hartman, it didn't hit me how much of a personal campaign backed by his employer Taps Across America was at the time. Watching these videos made me realize it. That doesn't mean it's a bad idea; I rather like it. As I wrote in 2020, "I'll be listening at 3:00 P.M. local time for anyone playing 'Taps.' I hope my readers are, too."

Inside looks at the science of 'Prehistoric Planet'

For today's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm returning to "Prehistoric Planet" with more promotional videos, beginning with Prehistoric Planet — An Inside Look: Expect The Unexpected from Apple TV.

Go behind-the-scenes of Prehistoric Planet with executive producers Jon Favreau and Michael Gunton for a closer look at how they brought this wondrous world to life...

Experience the wonders of our world like never before in this epic docuseries from Jon Favreau and the producers of Planet Earth. Travel back 66 million years to when majestic dinosaurs and extraordinary creatures roamed the lands, seas, and skies.

Jon Favreau and Michael Gunton confirmed what I wrote last week.

I was a big fan of "Walking with Dinosaurs," a sequel to which I mentioned in Infidel 753 and I talk fossils and this show looks like it will be a worthy successor to it. It's been 23 years since that aired and both the science and technology have advanced since then, so the depictions of the dinosaurs and other Mesozoic organisms will reflect both. Besides, I think every generation deserves its own dinosaurs, both real and fictional.
...
By the way, all of these scenes are from the latest Cretaceous, indicating that this show is looking at different biomes on the Earth at the same time, unlike "Walking with Dinosaurs," which proceeded through the entire Mesozoic to show how the planet and is organisms changed over time. This makes it more like Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II, which examine different environments on the modern Earth. That's an interesting conceit and one I'm looking forward to watching.

Follow over the jump for videos that show how the series depicts the paleontological discoveries since "Walking with Dinosaurs" and supports those depictions with science.