Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Real Economy

Rightwinger wrote a good article yesterday. Unfortunately, I completely disagree with him and thought I'd show the real picture. Does this look like a healthy economy to you??

Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide A company spokeswoman said The company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered.. It will let the Stores that will close this fiscal year know over the next month.

Eddie Bauer to close more stores. Eddie Bauer has already Closed 27 shops in the first quarter and plans to close up To two more outlet stores by the end of the year.

Cache closing store s. Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores This year.

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide The owner Of retailers Lane Bryant , Fashion Bug , Catherines Plus Sizes will close About 150 under performing stores this year..The company hasn't Provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it will offer That info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.

Talbots, J. Jill closing stores. About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close Another 22 under performing stores.. The 22stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill , another chain it owns. The closures will occur this Fiscal year,according to a company press release.

Gap Inc. Closing 85 stores. In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic .The company said the closures all planned For fiscal 2008 - will be weighted toward the Gap brand.

Foot Locker to close 140 stores. In the company press release and during its Conference call with analysts today, it did not specify where the future store Closures - all planned in fiscal 2008 - will be.. The company could not be Immediately reached for comment.

Wickes is going out of business. Wickes Furniture is going Out of business and closing all of its stores. Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy Protection last month.

Goodbye Levitz / BOMBAY - closed already. The furniture retailer, which is going out Of business. Levitz first announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of Its stores in December. The retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his First furniture store in Lebanon , PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to The forefront of the furniture industry. The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay.

Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores. The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously Said it plans to close 82 stores by July 31. Today, it announced that it is closing Another 23 under performing stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific Store closures. Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are Stores.

Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores The Walt Disney Company Announced it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores. The exact number of stores acquired Will depend on negotiations with land lords. Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March.. Walt Disney In the news release said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in the U.S.. The press release didn't list those stores.

Home Depot store closings (E. Brunswick, Rt 18 just put up their closing sign) ATLANTA - Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said there were no plans To cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot Inc.announced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S.economy and Housing market.The move will affect 1,300 employees.. It is the first time The world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship Store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based company said the under performing US.stores Being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores . They Will be shuttered within the next two months.

CompUSA (CLOSED) clarifies details on store Closings Any extended warranties purchased for products Through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be Redeemed at any time during the final sale.. For those who have a gadget Currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.

Macy's - 9 stores

Movie Gallery - 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy. The video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520locations the video rental chain closed last fall.

Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7%of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas . Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.

J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are scaling back

Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+stores in an effort to cut costs.

Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores

Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four under performing Demo stores closed last May.

Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.

KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on Press Information

Dillard's to Close More Stores Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing under-performing stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close another six under performing stores this year.

Car dealers, franchised and independents, are closing at an escalating pace. While it is not uncommon for independents to close, it is very rare for franchise dealers to close. Normally, they are sold or absorbed into larger chains. Not long ago, most franchises were worth millions. The domestic brand franchises now are worth nothing. The largest GM dealer in the world closed last month. Ask any Ford dealer how much they are in their pocket every month just to stay open. Ask any Chrysler dealer the same question. The largest dealership in NEPA has 15 franchises. In normal times, they sell between 600 and 1000 cars per month. They sold under 200 new cars in October.

The talking heads like Rush want to paint a rosy picture of the economy. I say they should pry their heads out of their asses. We are not only in a recession, we are at the doorway to a full blown depression.

12 comments:

Tony Thomas said...

Don't forget Circuit City. They are closing 155 stores as they filed for bankruptcy and there is word from unconfirmed inside sources that another 150 "unprofitable" stores will shut down after Black Friday. Our local one in Wilkes-Barre is rumored to be one of those under performing stores.

Zen said...

oops, forgot them. nice catch, thanks.

Tony Thomas said...

No problem. There are a lot more struggling companies too like Blockbuster. I work at the local Circuit City, so if we're going under, the local bloggers will hear it first.

Right Winger said...

Ok,I'll play devil's advocate here. Let's pretend for a moment the housing bubble led Lowes and Home Depot and furniture stores to believe they should open up more locations. Also, let's assume the fact people were getting mortgage payments that were way to low for the size of their mortgage freed up money for them to spend on new vehicles. Vehicles they normally couldn't afford. People having car payments higher than mortgage payments should have been the first indicator.
So then all of this comes crashing down.
I call it an adjustment.
Of course I don't want anyone to lose their job. Well, except for the higher ups that helped cause all this.
On a side note, I know the auto industry is hurtin. One question: Why or how is Honda opening a new plant here in the US this week??
Just curious.

Anonymous said...

To answer your question; Honda started their new plant long before the shit hit the fan. Honda's sales are down between 33 and 36%. Had they been down that much for the last 2 years they wouldn't have built a new plant.

I am a Honda salesman at Motorworld. Our sales are down more than 35% FYI.

Zen said...

In part I agree with you Right. People did buy homes they couldn't afford. People have always bought cars they couldn't afford. Yes, both of those are part of the problem. But this is not a correction, or as you put it, an adjustment. It is reaching too many businesses for that to be the case. Real wealth is evaporating at an ever increasing rate. For those that don't believe in trickle down economics, you are about to get a very expensive lesson in the reality of it.

Anonymous said...

Actually Zen, I'll agree with you there. If trickle down doesn't work then no one should be worried.
Isn't this what the Obama fans wanted?? People with lots of money to not have lots of money.
Ya know, "eat the rich."
If your theory is correct, it'll be a good lesson in economics to fall back on.

Anonymous said...

I work for The Home Depot and this is old information. We announced the closing of 15 stores back in May. Please clarify - Thanks.

Zen said...

Hi Sarah, I was trying to include companies that are closing stores this year. The Home Depot info was from the summer. Sorry, I just didn't want to have to put dates on all the announcements. They all are from this year!!
Thanks for the comment. I hope you checked out more than just this page.
z

NEPAExpat said...

Winger,

Why has a large majority of people of the "conservative" movement been bogged down in rhetoric about taxes? Why has there not been one call for going after those who committed fraud and fleeced millions of Americans out of money because they are quick to fall for "get rich" schemes?

If I robbed your house of everything that you earned, should I be able to keep it and receive a reward from the government because I was deemed by those in power to have used your money to create jobs (at the very least a call to the locksmith and a trip to the Home Depot would result increasing the need for employment)?

Just saying, if we took back the stolen gains, there wouldn't be a reason to raise taxes. Maybe if the right could think beyond the digestible talking points from the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, we would have avoided what will occur the next four years.

Anonymous said...

NEPA,
Why assume anyone with money got that way by fleecing Americans?
I am 110% behind going after every bastard that got the money in a currupt way. Regardless of party affiliation. I never suggested otherwise. That's not my point.
I'll give you local example.
The Fasula family owns 9 Gerrity's stores. They got their money the old fashioned way starting with one location.
So, let's say because of the economy and because we also want to "redistribute" their wealth, the Fasula's start to take a hard look at their finances.
At some point they might decide it's time to cut and run. Sell it all off, retire early, shut the stores down. Why not??? I'm sure a good part of their employees look at them as the "rich people" who don't deserve all that money. Not realizing the importance of the owners having that money.
The Inslacos did it years ago. None of them are hurting form money. But a lot of the people who worked for them for years lost their jobs.
That's just one example. "Wishing" that people with a lot a money had less is not a smart philosophy.

NEPAExpat said...

Winger,

Many of the arguments cited by the right in regards to terrorism are arguments similar to what the left is using in our current economic mess.

Conservative talk show hosts during the post-911 fallout implored Muslim leaders to pronounce their allegiance to America, because they were for or against us.

Those who claim to be for the "dwindling by the minute" middle class are asking the same question of those who have obtained wealth. Join us in taking down those who have defrauded our country out of billions of dollars or we will cite you all as co-conspiritors.

I am by no means a member of the "eat the rich" camp. I am just showing what is ahead for the future of those who have gained wealth the right way and remain silent (very likely due to the wealthy looking after each other or at the threat of being made an example, see Cuban, Mark).

To many, the lack of indictments or punishment make the concept of "spreading the wealth" that much more appealing. Many people are angry that they were not part of the largess of no bid contracts and crony capitalism.

The party must learn from those mistakes, and quickly, or they will be further marginalized by 2012.

Granted, the prez-elect is already making moves (Tim Geithner Sec. of Treasury) to bring up eventual comparisons to the Samuel L. Jackson character in Goodfellas.

The future is still unclear since there are too many moving pieces yet to be played.