Retail Watchers

They apparently are still building in Fountain Valley. I don't think that ever stopped, as the announcement and groundbreaking all started after they had officially mothballed the new stores and canceled some sites. Every time I go into one I leave questioning myself (why did I think this would be a...

That answers my question, but I would not be surprised if the inventory management is making the problems even worse. The automatic replenishment systems used by these chains are so dependent on sales history that even if they are back in stock at the warehouse on all items they would likely fail t...

This is a tough one, because I think historically Apple had way too much staffing at their stores. Some of these stores were so packed with employees and customers that they were uncomfortable. Some of these little stores had at least 50 employees on the sales floor. It is obvious that Apple has red...

I don't see Red Lobster surviving too much longer, seafood restaurant chains have just really have been on the decline for good while now. The all you can eat is what did Red Lobster in and the best they can do is try to sell off the real estate. They lost $11 million on the promotion. If a chain t...

Odd question. Any chance some of this problem is related to wildly bad forecasting and logistics planning? I ask this because I've seen the aftermath of even one store in an underserved area closing, then the next closest store becomes overwhelmed with customers and the in stock rate plummets. Base...

So I said this and then walked into my usual perfect Aldi store today in the afternoon. First time I've been there in a month. I am pretty sure the manager was moved and replaced. Might as well be a different store and it reveals some of @storewanderer concerns. First off, whoever the new manager i...

JCPenney is spending $1 Billion on store refreshes and remodels to improve their shopping experience according to Brookfield. I doubt any department store chain has made a comparable investment in years. Also doubt it will be enough to address all the deferred repairs. Nordstrom just remodeled its ...

Despite the "we're working past the department stores" talk, there's a lot of things wrong with malls still. Most of the department store replacements aren't real replacements (often not connecting into the mall), unique specialty stores are almost extinct, and despite hopes that some mal...

Many of the closures seem to be in smaller/medium type markets. I am a little surprised they were in some of these markets in the first place. I think they should reconcept themself. Similar to the Jerrys-Black Bear re-concepting decades ago. Throw out all the frozen food, start to make food fresh,...

Store presentation and operations seem to be drastically improved. I do not see any two entrance stores reduced to one door anymore. Registers are open and staffed. Although I don't have that they stripped down the wall racking I understand why they did it, and at least now there are finally some w...