Thread: Apocalypse for retail: 3,500 stores closing in 2017

Starbucks closing all 379 Teavana stores this year


Starbucks at MainPlace Mall. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

By ASSOCIATED PRESS |
PUBLISHED: July 28, 2017 at 6:47 am | UPDATED: July 28, 2017 at 8:07 am


Starbucks is shutting down its struggling Teavana chain, and relying on customers who spend more on pricier drinks and food to drive up sales at its namesake coffee stores.

The company reported disappointing global sales growth on Thursday, and said it will close all 379 Teavana locations over the coming year. It had acquired the U.S. mall-based chain in 2012, with then-CEO Howard Schultz citing the huge potential for the tea market. But in April, the company said it was reviewing options for the chain.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson on Thursday noted declining foot traffic at malls.

In Orange County, Teavana has locations at the Brea Mall and South Coast Plaza.

The announcement came as Starbucks said global sales at its flagship chain rose 4 percent at established locations for the quarter ended July 2, fueled by higher average spending per visit. In the U.S., sales rose 5 percent at established locations, also driven mostly by higher spending versus an increase in customer visits.

Competition has intensified in the U.S. restaurant industry, making it challenging for chains to get customers to visit their stores more often. Dunkin’ Donuts said earlier in the day that customer traffic fell again at its established U.S. locations.

McDonald’s, meanwhile, has been promoting $1 sodas and $2 McCafe smoothies, frappes and shakes, a strategy the burger chain says helped bring in customers during the second quarter.

Johnson dismissed the idea that such promotions affect Starbucks, saying that the “value players” are competing in a different segment.

Still, the Seattle-based company cited pressure in the retail and restaurant sectors that have made it more cautious going into the next quarter. It cut its profit forecast for the year for the second time.

In its Asia unit, Starbucks’ sales rose just 1 percent at established locations during the three-month period. Starbucks has announced plans to acquire the remaining 50 percent stake of its East China joint venture that it does not already own. That makes it the operator of all Starbucks stores in mainland China, which it says is a fast-growing market.

For the quarter, Starbucks Corp. earned $691.6 million, or 47 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, it earned 55 cents per share, in line with Wall Street expectations. New store openings helped lift revenue 8 percent to $5.66 billion. But that was still less than analysts expected.

The company trimmed its adjusted earnings per share forecast to between $2.05 and $2.06 per share.

Starbucks shares fell 5.6 percent to $56.15 in extended trading.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/28...res-this-year/

135 Applebee's, 25 IHOPs to close

The stores left our small town about 20 years ago, except for Dollar General. We have one grocery store.

Maybe the immigrants, refugees, and illegals are not shopping at these usual kinds of stores. There are a lot of ethnic groceries, ethnic clothing stores, ethnic hair dressers, tire shops, auto shops, car lots, restaurants, etc.

Maybe Americans don't have enough money left, after supporting all the imported people,to spend it on non-necessities.

Gap to close 200 Banana Republic, Gap stores

After reading the story of the shoplifting gang in CA, maybe the illegals do 'shop' in these stores and that's why they are loosing money.

J. Crew will close dozens of stores by the end of January

CNNMoney-Nov 22, 2017
by Chris Isidore @CNNMoney November 22, 2017: 8:43 AM ET ... J. Crew announced late Tuesday that it plans to close 39 stores by the end of January ...


J.Crew Is Closing Even More Of Its Stores
Refinery29-Nov 22, 2017 View all



Bon-Ton Stores to close 40 stores in 2018

USA TODAY-Nov 16, 2017
Bon-Ton (BONT), the parent company of Boston Store, Younkers and ... J.C. Penney, Kmart, Macy's: These retailers are closing stores in 2017.


Bon-Ton, parent company of Boston Store and Younkers, to close 40 ...
Highly Cited-Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-Nov 16, 2017 View all



A Record Amount of Brick and Mortar Stores Will Close in 2017

Fortune-Oct 26, 2017
This year is going to go down as the worst year on record for brick-and-mortar retail. Retailers have announced plans to shutter more than ...

2017 just set the all-time record for store closings
CNNMoney-Oct 25, 2017 View all


Another 60-plus Sears, Kmart stores set to close in January 2018 ...

USA TODAY-Nov 3, 2017
An additional 45 Kmart stores and 18 Sears stores will be closing in late .... December 2017 and the store itself will close in late January 2018.

Who is shopping when WE are forced to pay for the unrelenting invasion of our County!

When OUR health insurance, car insurance and costs are sky high due to dumping these people in our neighborhoods and WE pay the costs!

When WE are working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week...and most 2-3 jobs to pay OUR own bills.

When WE are FORCED to pay BILLIONS OF DOLLARS for breeding, uneducated, disease infected refugees, asylum, TPS and illegal aliens who have NO respect for themselves, their country, or the USA!

When WE are forced to limit how many children WE have to be FORCED to pay for those sick disgusting people who have 7 wives and 19 kids!

Why would the ILLEGALS AND REFUGEES shop here when they can send 40 BILLION out of the country and not contribute to OUR ECONOMY they STEAL from?

NO MORE REFUGEES
NO ASYLUM
NO ILLEGAL ALIENS
NO DACA, NO PATH TO STAY
NO AMNESTY EVER!
NO ANCHOR BABIES!
NO TPS
NO HEALTHCARE
NO WELFARE
NO FOOD STAMPS
NO HOUSING
NO DRIVER'S LICENCE
NO SANCTUARY!

NO MORE PEOPLE FOR 10 YEARS!

Shoppers browse stores, buy online as Black Friday deals beckon



By Richa Naidu and Nandita Bose
Reuters November 24, 2017


U.S. shoppers browse stores, buy online as Black Friday deals beckon

U.S. shoppers browse stores, buy online as Black Friday deals beckon
Yahoo Tech

Scroll back up to restore default view.

By Richa Naidu and Nandita Bose

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stores offered deep discounts, entertainment and free gifts to lure bargain hunters on Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday retail season, but some shoppers said they were just browsing the merchandise, reserving their cash for internet purchases.

Still, a sharp rise in online sales brightened the overall outlook for those traditional retailers that have expanded beyond brick-and-mortar outlets, sending their shares higher in day-after-Thanksgiving trading.

Stores also had carefully managed inventory, seeking to ward off any post-holiday liquidation that would weigh on profits.

There was little evidence of the delirious shopper frenzy customary of Black Fridays from past years, even as some stores appeared to be getting creative with gimmicks besides heavy discounts to draw in customers.

No actual data for Friday's brick-and-mortar business was immediately available.

Despite anecdotal signs of muted in-store sales - fewer cars in mall parking lots, shoppers leaving stores without purchases in hand - consumers are still expected to spend more overall this holiday season than last, analysts and industry executives said.

Black Friday online sales posted a strong start, at $640 million as of 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), according to Adobe Analytics, up 18.4 percent from a year ago. On Thanksgiving Day, U.S. shoppers spent more than $2.87 billion online.

Indeed, some chains struggled to keep up, with brief online outages experienced by Lowe's, H&M and the Gap, among others, according to website performance monitors.

Macy's Inc customers in several states, including Texas, Arizona and Illinois, took to social media to complain about the retailer's credit card processing system. The company acknowledged that processing was taking longer than usual in its stores and said it was working on the problem.

The hiccups dragged Macy's shares 0.6 percent lower in extended trading. They had ended the regular session up 2.1 percent, boosted by comments from Chief Executive Jeff Gennette, who told CNBC that Macy's was better off this year than last, had robust online demand and was in a good place for holiday promotions.

Adobe forecast that online Black Friday sales would reach a record $5 billion, with internet retailers projected to rake in an additional $6.6 billion on Cyber Monday. Adobe measures 80 percent of online transactions at the largest 100 U.S. web retailers.

Macy's and J.C. Penney Co Inc did a better job of ordering and controlling inventory this time, according to Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resources Group, a consultancy with seven researchers out in the field.

"The turnout this morning has been relatively slow, but it is still the best we have seen in three years," Flickinger said, citing improving consumer confidence, a strong job market and healthy housing prices.

Fair weather across much of the nation also was factor, said National Retail Federation President Matthew Shay.

Some shoppers were enticed by the promise of spectacle, while others felt the pull of nostalgia.

"It's like a hangout, it's an experience," said Jonathan Lin, 17. "All my friends are back from college and we got together."

"There’s something nostalgic about being at the stores this early,” Jennifer Stasiak said at Chicago’s popular Oakbrook Center.

Not everyone found the Black Friday magic irresistible.
“I avoid the store, too many crowds,” said Elana Silverstein, 32, a school counselor enjoying a warm, sunny day at Lake Balboa in Los Angeles. Instead, Silverstein said, she bought several personal items on sale Thursday night through the online marketplace Groupon.

She and her boyfriend, Mike Goldstein, 36, said they generally just buy gift cards from grocery stores, typically en route to holiday functions, rather than spend hours shopping in malls or online.

Major retailers generally traded higher on Wall Street. J.C. Penney climbed 0.6 percent and Wal-Mart Stores Inc edged upward. Amazon.com Inc closed up 2.6 percent at a record high.

Target Corp did not fare as well, with analysts noting that it closed its stores for several hours overnight while many rivals kept their doors open. Its shares fell 2.8 percent.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/black...--finance.html

$5 billion spent online in 24 hours
​

BREAKING NEWS
Black Friday shoppers spent 17% more this year, while in-store foot traffic dipped slightly

Online sales boomed on Black Friday

by Jackie Wattles @jackiewattles November 25, 2017: 5:47 PM ET

Black Friday 2017 was all about digital sales.

American shoppers spent a record $5 billion in 24 hours. That marks a 16.9% increase in dollars spent online compared with Black Friday 2016, according to data from Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks 80% of online spending at America's 100 largest retail websites.

Digital retail giant Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) said Friday that orders were rolling in "at record levels." More than 200,000 toys were sold in just the first five hours of the day, the company said. Amazon did not provide sales figures for Black Friday.

Meanwhile, malls and big-box retailers were left only slightly emptier.

Early estimates from ShopperTrak, a data analytics company that measures the number of shoppers at stores, said foot traffic "decreased less than one percent when compared to Black Friday 2016."

A meager dip is good news for traditional retailers. As online-savvy businesses continue to gobble up more and more of the market share, companies like Macy's (M), JCPenney (JCP), Gap(GPS) and Sears (SHLD) have suffered.

It remains to be seen exactly how much in-store shoppers were willing to spend. That will be a crucial data point in assessing retailers' woes.

Related: Is this the last Black Friday?

But Brian Field, senior director of advisory services for ShopperTrak, is optimistic.

"There has been a significant amount of debate surrounding the shifting importance of brick-and-mortar retail, and the fact that shopper visits remained intact on Black Friday illustrates that physical retail is still highly relevant and, when done right, profitable," Field said in a statement.

Looking at both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, however, in-store foot traffic was actually down nearly 2% compared to the same two days last year.

Field says that's likely because "a greater number of brick-and-mortar retailers opted to close on Thanksgiving Day."

We'll know more about how it all shakes out in the coming months and early 2018, when big-box retailers post their next round of earnings reports.

In the meantime, there's plenty of busy holiday shopping days to come.

Adobe predicts that Cyber Monday will be even bigger than Black Friday, bringing in as much as $6 billion in digital sales.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/25/news...fic/index.html