Stores closing

[binny]

I am not one of those "the sky is falling" type people but this list is a little scary. I know stores close all the time but these are some big names. I know also that the article states that TDS "has the right" to close some stores, we know that they have indeed closed some.

I guess just seeing a list this big with this many large/long lasting stores was a bit of a shock.



Boscov's filed Chapter 11 (reorganization) this week; 10 stores slated to close, including 3 in MD, 5 in PA, and one each in VA and NJ. Going-out-of-business sales at the closing stores could begin by Aug. 15.

MARYLAND
Marley Station Mall, Glen Burnie
Owings Mills Mall, Owings Mills
White Marsh Mall, Baltimore
NEW JERSEY
Monmouth Mall, Eatontown
PENNSYLVANIA
Harrisburg East Mall, Harrisburg
Monroeville Mall, Monroeville
Montgomery Mall, North Wales
Oxford Valley Mall, Langhorne
South Hills Village Mall, Bethel Park
VIRGINIA
Piedmont Mall, Danville

Linens 'n Things' - originally said 177 stores to close over the next few months, now they say 57.


Got this list in an e-mail, also found the info online, checked a few, and it seems accurate.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Cache closing stores - Women’s retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.

4. Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide The owner of retailers Lane Bryant , Fashion Bug , Catherines Plus Sizes will close about 150 underperforming 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.

5. 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 underperforming 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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.

9. Goodbye Levitz - 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.

10. 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 underperforming 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.

11. 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.

12. Home Depot store closings - 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 I nc.ann ounced 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 underperforming U.S.stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.

13. CompUSA 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 w h o h ave a gadget currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.

14. Macy’s - 9 stores -

15. 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.

16. Pep Boys - 33 stores

17. 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.

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

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

20. Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores

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

22. 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.

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

24. 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

25. Dillard?s to Close More Stores Dillard?s Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing underperforming 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 underperforming stores this year.

 

[OceanAnnie]

That's a lot! Some others recently; Bennigans, Steak and Ale, Star Bucks. It is scary.

 

[floridaminnie]

but remember....we aren't in a recession!

 

[clarabelle]

that is scary
some of those stores- I never understood what kept them going in the first place
Like Wilson's leather -how much leather can one person wear?

 

[SplshMtn99]

It might not all be from a recession. Some could be just too many stores. Others could be from a growing online business & less brick&morter store traffic.

Things change. Tonight on the news, they were talking about suburbs becoming a thing of the past (or at least declining) because of gas prices & people wanting to spend less time commuting & living closer to where the jobs are. I know this topic hit us very recently with news that DH's job will be moving 30 miles in the opposite direction within 3 yrs. We'll need to move or he'll need to find another job, because its going to be just too far & too expensive to drive to daily. He already spends 1 hr getting there.

 

[binny]

that is scary
some of those stores- I never understood what kept them going in the first place
Like Wilson's leather -how much leather can one person wear?

well yeah but they smell so good to walk by! LOL



Youre right, it can be for a lot of reasons, like I said I am not an alarmist type person. Just seems like a lot when you see it all listed in one place.

 

[PlutoPony]

And retail space is still being built all over in my area. Stores closing + more stores =

 

[mytwotinks]

Some of those have been gone around me for a long time (Levitz) and some have been opening new stores like crazy around me (Ann Taylor). It's weird how that works.

It seems like stores need to do more to get people shopping in them nowadays. Now that you can see every store's selection on-line, maybe people are doing less browsing in the stores and more just going and getting what they want. I know that I used to do that when the girls were small enough for Gymboree.

Even when I do go to a store to shop, it's often because I got an email about a sale and looked on line to see if there was anything there worth going for. It's just not worth driving to the mall to "look" anymore. I need to know that I am going for something specific before I waste my precious gasoline!

 

[MushyMushy]

but remember....we aren't in a recession!

Noooo, there's no recession. Just look at the numbers! Numbers never lie.

 

[DarthKTrava]

I don't go to the mall as there's nothing I want to look at other than books and maybe JC Pennys when they have a good sale on clothing. Or going to Steve and Barry's...

Other than that, malls are a waste of my time. And the better mall relatively close to me, there's alot of gang activity at night...

Here, Pep Boys has been gone for about a year.

CompUSA has been gone for at least a year....

Not sure about Foot Locker... don't do much for shoe stores where you have to bug someone to buy shoes....

 

[Cindy B]

A lot of that list has already closed near me.

Levitz- gone since last year or so.

Eddie Bauer - closed up years ago

Compusa- closed last month

Cache store already closed up (however the mall is doing renovation--so it could reopen)

NOT ON THE LIST:


Bombay company - closed last month

Lenox (non outlet store) closed in December

Sharper Image- closed last month

Hollywood video closed two locations recently

Wilson's Leather- closed YEARS ago!

Steve and Barry's announced bankruptcy procedings as well- I'm sure you will see closings there as well.


Not suprised about Gap having problems. I never see anyone in a GAP anymore. It's certainly NOT the teen store it was when I was younger.

However, I do see retail space being built all the time. A HUGE brand new plaza was just built near my house and the grand opening is soon:

It has

Yankee Candle
J.Jill
Talbots
Ulta
Barnes and Noble
Cell phone store (Verizon I think?)
Maternity store- Peapod?
Fancy paper store -- Blue Tulip?

and the restaurants anchoring it are:
Brio
McCormick and Schmick's
Cheesecake Factory
and some fancy steakhouse


So-- as you can see upscale shopping in a non mall setting is in a upswing around here.

 

[Mkrop]

Boscovs is local to this area and I just read an article about them in the paper on Sunday. They grew too fast. They bought up many stores from Federated Dept Stores but they could not sustain their growth.

 

[luv2nascar]

Its a mental recession - all in your head.

I don't think Circuit City was on that list but they are all but done. Looking to be bought out. Borders looking to get bought. Wait till the car dealers start closing. Local restaurants are closing too. Don Pablos closed a store here. Plus local Redners Warehouse market closed a location possibly others.

 

[FroggyinArk]

if it makse any differrence , i have insider info that says both lowes and home depot are opening new low volume stores in our area with in the next two years. i know our district manager has said we have to be at 200 percent before april, so we will be able to maintain our customer draw over the new store. we are doing whats calleda clean sweep of our depts during hte next 6 months to reset our 20 yr old store into a brand new store setting.

 

[DISUNC]

Boscov's filed Chapter 11 (reorganization) this week;

2. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

9. Goodbye Levitz - 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.

10. 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 underperforming 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.

11. 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.


12. Home Depot store closings - 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 I nc.ann ounced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees.


13. CompUSA 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 w h o h ave a gadget currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.

14. Macy’s - 9 stores -

16. Pep Boys - 33 stores

17. 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.

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

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

20. Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores

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

22. 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.

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

24. 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

Yup it is sort of scary...BUT...I am only familiar with the above stores on the list. and with the exception of Macy's & The Disney stores, Home depot, Lowes, jc penny, office depot....I am suprised that all the others have stayed open this long. IMO The prices at these stores have always been extremely high for the merchandise the sell.


As for Home Depot, Lowes, office depot, comp usa..there are a GLUT of these alllllllll over.

I always like Macy's & Disney..but lately the merchandise as not bee the quality it use to be. And the Macy's near me has turned into a junk store.

 

[2BigKIdz]

We just had a Lowe's open near us in May. We are also getting an Outlet mall and a super Wal-Mart in that shopping center. So far none of the stores mentioned in the list have closed here, except maybe Talbot's but I've never shopped there so I don't know.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I want to say that the list above is impressive, but that makes it seems as though it was a good thing.

I am personally affected by the bankruptcy filing by Boscov's, and have been following the various newspaper articles online. It is sad to see those ten doors close. It is unfortunate for the workers who no longer have jobs and the loyal shoppers that must find a new retailer to service their needs.


Hard Times.

We are living during difficult economic times and consumers aren't spending their money on frivilous or unnecessary purchases. Gas and food are using up any discretionary monies that may once have been reserved for a shopping spree at the local mall.

Only late last year, a new "upscale" shopping center opened. Already that new Starbucks location, plus another in the area, are on the chopping block of the 600 Starbucks slated to be shuttered.


Competition.


There is a new Target opening down the street in a few weeks. Another on the other side of town will open next year, along with another Lowe's (the third location in greater Reading). There is already a Target within 10-15 minutes drive of either of these new stores, so by this time next year there will be three.

There are three Walmarts surrounding the city of Reading, not to mention the other 2+ in the outlying areas of the county.

A few years ago we experienced a banking boom, still sort of are seeing as there is usually a new branch opening at these new shopping centers as well. One township outside of Reading has no fewer than 8 different bank branches within a mile of each other.

 

[PaulaSue]

Wow, I knew some of them but Wow so many!

 

[HelenePA]

We lost KB Toys (which I don't miss because they were crazy expensive anyway!), Foot Locker, our local boscov's survived some how they have GREAT sales!! Steve and Barry just opened here last year around black friday wonder what will happen with them we are getting a 14 screen movie theater and a new strip mall just opened too... I just wish we'd get a Target... I have to drive an hour to get to one.. its very annoying!