Something reeks here

[Cobrabill]

Can anyone verify/confirm this?


CLOSINGS AND LAYOFFS
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 stores. 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 22 stores 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.

Levitz / BOMBAY - closed already. The furniture retailer 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 landlords. 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 U.S. 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 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.

Pacific Sunwear - 153 Demo stores

Pep Boys - 33 stores

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+

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.

Bombay Company: The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores. The company's online storefront has discontinued operations.

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 reforming stores this year.

[Jamo]

Some of that stuff is old news (Sharper Image BK, Levitz/Bombay, Home Depot, etc.)...well before the latest crunch, but certainly within the past year or so.

[Cobrabill]

Bombay...O.K.But Levitz?We just bought a mattress from them.Sheeeeeet!

Wilsons...I'll piss on their grave.
CompUSA-old news
But some of the others seem really vague like someone is reading newspapers and spinning it.

[Bill Bess]

Maybe with the downward slide of the economy,.... layoffs and closures are just due to too many over priced operations that folks won't or can't support right now.

You'll know things are bad,... when all the poor teenagers and stay at home Mom's stop buying cell phones, and boys stop buying 22" wheels for their cars and cheap beer sales go up.

Only in America do we enjoy the reality of greed.

Old Bill

[trularin]

Reality of the times.

I think it is safe to say the economy sucks!

[Ronbo]

I'm co-owner of three Sprint/Nextel stores in Jacksonville, Fl. We've experianced huge drops in sales that started declining over two years ago.

Initially Sprint's lousy customer service (not that Nextel's was all that great) accounted for a lot of customers jumping ship to Verizon and AT&T. (you really suck if you can't compete against AT&T) As luxury items like cell phones for the kids are the first to go, then businesses trimming staff.

Well, two years ago my largest location was averaging 150+ new activations per month, now all three stores combined barely hit 100.

I haven't laid anyone off but I've also not replaced three employees that left over the last year. If things don't turn around by spring I'll close one location. Myself and the other two owners have cut our pay in half almost two years ago and I'm faced with hitting the employees with the $50 a head health insurance increase next month. (the insurance lady told us we were one of a handfull of companies offering 100% employer funded insurance that they deal with)

Between Pelosi and Obama we may not survive next year...

[trularin]

Why do people blame the future for things that have happened in the past?

Curious.

[Ron61]

Tru,

Because the Future isn't here yet and you can't blame anything on something that doesn't and hasn't existed yet. Besides, how can you prove there is a future. The past no longer exists, the future hasn't existed to our knowledge, so that only leaves the present which will cease to exist in a few moments. Now isn't that simple.

Ron

[trularin]

I knew you would have a great answer to my question.

[392cobra]

Tru,please don't encourge him.

[4RE KLR]

Linens and Things also filed for BK and is closing all stores.

[Maurice Johnson]

Ron,

Your answer to Tru makes perfect sense to me
I think the natural follow-on to your wisdom, which I find I employ more often these days, is "it seemed like a good idea at the time". It does allow one a certain sense of comfort.