Retail continues to take hits from slumping spending as the “waiting” game comes to a close for many. Here are few updates on national chains unable to ride out the storm any longer:
On the heels, no pun intended – well maybe, of a previous post regarding the closure of many stores, The Walking Company announced more store closings. The company is now seeking to close an additional 40 stores on top of the 90 it already announced would be closing. This would leave around 80 locations nationwide. The average store size hovers around 1,500 SF.
The bath and body products store (and hotel favorite supplier of soaps and shampoos) has filed a bankruptcy exit plan that includes 35 stores planned for closure. This will leave the chain with 91 stores. The typical store size is 2,250 SF.
We all saw this restaurant chain go dark in downtown Portland (Alder and 6th) and on Cedar Hills Blvd near Beaverton (by the old Joe’s store now also dark) back in late 2009. The chain filed for bankruptcy this month and in addition to the two aforementioned locations closed 12 others. The company is now down to 69 restaurants in CA, AZ, CO and WA. The average size of each restaurant is 2,000 SF.
The Idaho-based grocery chain is closing 11 stores, mostly in Florida and Colorado. This is, interestingly enough, not the same group as SuperValu which operates 463 Albertsons in the Northwest, Nevada, and California. Who knew?
Albertsons LLC is owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Managment (think Chrysler), which sold 25 Florida Albertsons to Publix in 2008.
source: CoStar
[...] The only good news of recent is that retail sales are slowly inching up. Perhaps now that the unemployment rate has leveled off, people are getting a better idea of whether they’re going to get laid off. I don’t see how the trend will become strong as the US government will be having to take pretty much all of our money in the decades to come to pay off all its obligations. I still expect retail stores may go bankrupt in large numbers this year because 0.3% per month just doesn’t cut it. Many stores are just losing money too fast. [...]