Retail Watchers

The Idaho Falls, Idaho, Smith's has this décor. They kept the drop ceiling and the floor tiles in that store.

Arizonaguy -- I have seen that décor package in stores in Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. It wasn't ever too widely used, but it wasn't uncommon either.

Alpha, they received a very good offer for these stores. According to the press accounts, they hadn't actively been working to sell the Canada stores, but Sobey's came to them with an offer to buy the stores at a very good price. Safeway is valued (on an enterprise value basis) at 5 times EBITDA. I ...

Safeway and Sobey's announced that Sobey's will be buying all of the Canada Safeway stores. This will erase Safeway from a huge swath of Western Canada. Safeway has hinted recently that something like this could happen. http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/sobeys-to-buy-safeway-in-58-bill...

That is interesting. The press I remember reading at the time said that they had sold all locations in Oregon. It didn't say anything about cherry-picking. I definitely remember seeing an Albertsons gas station that had been rebranded USA Gasoline in North Vancouver, Washington. It's been quiet ... ...

The problem for Albertsons is that they are being squeezed on both ends. Many customers are willing to settle for less selection and less quality (in perimeter areas) in exchange for lower prices. These people are shopping at Walmart and their Neighborhood Markets. Or they are shopping at WinCo, whe...

I think the fact that JC Penney has changed into the type of store that longtime customers are less comfortable in is also a big part of this conversation. Things that I used to be able to find at Penney's are nowhere to be seen any more. I don't begrudge Ron Johnson for feeling like the stores need...

I saw an ad last weekend for a going out of business sale for the Milwaukee, Oregon, Kmart store. This store is located near I-205 in the Portland area. There was an article this morning in The Oregonian: http://www.oregonlive.com/money/index.ssf/2013/01/kmart_in_milwaukie_will_close.html#incart_riv...

Signs are posted in the windows of the shuttered Corvallis Albertsons advertising an auction in about two weeks. I remember reading that SuperValu hoped to raise funds from closing these stores by, in cases in which they owned the real estate, liquidating the asset. Given the age of the Corvallis st...

The Corvallis Albertsons closed for good a week ago. They have taken down the Albertsons signs. I was surprised to see that they boarded up the doors and the windows. It makes for an awful eyesore in a strip mall that, despite its age, has remained relatively full with decent tenants (Dollar Tree, L...