3 more chains that are in trouble...

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Super S
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3 more chains that are in trouble...

Post by Super S »

https://www.aol.com/article/finance/201 ... /22020782/

One chain in the article that stuck out as one that could have a huge impact on malls across the country is Claire's. That is one store that seems to have a presence in nearly every major mall (and some outlet malls and strip malls) and some malls also have a sister store under the name Icing.

As for J. Crew and Ascena: I do see their stores in some malls and shopping centers, but they don't have a presence everywhere.

I wonder who is next....
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Re: 3 more chains that are in trouble...

Post by mbz321 »

I've read the 'Rue 21' chain (another specialty mall clothing store) may file bankruptcy in the next couple weeks.
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Re: 3 more chains that are in trouble...

Post by Super S »

There are probably other regional chains out there that are also struggling. When you think about it, many of these chains do not have a very broad appeal, and when they target a very narrow customer base, it's not surprising that there is always some retail cycling. Only now with the internet we are seeing more of it.
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Re: 3 more chains that are in trouble...

Post by buckguy »

Good point. There really aren't that many enduring retail apparel chains--if you look at the lists of stores for early malls, virtually all the apparel and related chains are gone. Casual Fridays killed off a lot of men's store chains in particular, local and national, as did mismanagement (Richman Brothers, for example, had both). Women's clothing is cyclical--there have always been "fast fashion" places--other than Lerner (now New York Woman), most of the previous generations of these stores are longgone, but the market niche seems to be doing better than ever. Mid market shoes have migrated to places like DSW, but malls are still filled with athletic shoe stores. Gap has had a good run, but they abandoned their original concept (complete line of Levi clothing) ages ago. Other than hat stores (& millinery departments of department stores, I can't think of clothing segment that has truly vanished.
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Re: 3 more chains that are in trouble...

Post by storewanderer »

When you look at the rapid turnover over the years in the "small" mall stores, it is interesting how long these anchor stores have managed to outlive them. I think in some ways malls made a fatal mistake when they focused more on the "clothing and shoes" end of things. We all know they did it due to its margins, but still. There was a time before when the malls had various other stores; many had a small drugstore or the variety store, card shop, arcade, pet shop, book store, etc. The malls probably screwed up by not holding some of those formats in the mall somehow vs. having them go across the road to the larger format boxes...

It also seems like those A Malls that are so popular are a lot more rounded in their store format offerings...

At the rate things are going, malls will be a thing of the past in 20 years without some major changes.
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Re: 3 more chains that are in trouble...

Post by Super S »

buckguy wrote:Good point. There really aren't that many enduring retail apparel chains--if you look at the lists of stores for early malls, virtually all the apparel and related chains are gone. Casual Fridays killed off a lot of men's store chains in particular, local and national, as did mismanagement (Richman Brothers, for example, had both). Women's clothing is cyclical--there have always been "fast fashion" places--other than Lerner (now New York Woman), most of the previous generations of these stores are longgone, but the market niche seems to be doing better than ever. Mid market shoes have migrated to places like DSW, but malls are still filled with athletic shoe stores. Gap has had a good run, but they abandoned their original concept (complete line of Levi clothing) ages ago. Other than hat stores (& millinery departments of department stores, I can't think of clothing segment that has truly vanished.
And then you have chains that had a successful run, only to be done in by larger companies buying their competitors, or making changes to a business model in an attempt to increase revenue, that only end up alienating their existing customer base.

A lot of the mall stores today are owned by larger companies and/or investment groups. The larger companies are not too concerned on the impact of their stores leaving the smaller, less successful malls even if it means that their next closest location could be an hour or more away. As for the local stores, they do exist, but mall lease rates are usually prohibitive for local owners.
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Re: 3 more chains that are in trouble...

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote:When you look at the rapid turnover over the years in the "small" mall stores, it is interesting how long these anchor stores have managed to outlive them. I think in some ways malls made a fatal mistake when they focused more on the "clothing and shoes" end of things. We all know they did it due to its margins, but still. There was a time before when the malls had various other stores; many had a small drugstore or the variety store, card shop, arcade, pet shop, book store, etc. The malls probably screwed up by not holding some of those formats in the mall somehow vs. having them go across the road to the larger format boxes...

It also seems like those A Malls that are so popular are a lot more rounded in their store format offerings...

At the rate things are going, malls will be a thing of the past in 20 years without some major changes.
Very good point. Variety appeals to a much broader demographic.

I have been watching one struggling mall to my north, The Commons at federal Way, formerly Seatac Mall. That mall about 5-10 years ago was in bad shape. There was a closed Lamonts store and a closed Mervyn's and a lot of vacancies, although Macy's and Sears were still present. They have since added a Target in the former Mervyn's space, constructed a new theatre in the former Lamonts space, and added Dick's Sporting Goods and a Kohl's store. More interesting stores also are present including longtime tenant Daiso (who opened a new location in the mall), which is a Japanese version of a dollar store. I was in that mall a few months back and it seems to be rebounding.

The anchor stores like Sears (as well as less common mall anchors like Target and Kmart) have enough variety to bring a wider demographic to the mall. When you lose those types of anchors, your demographics change considerably. And when the pet shops, book stores, music stores, electronics stores, drug/variety stores leave, there is less incentive to visit a mall when it becomes all clothes....
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Re: 3 more chains that are in trouble...

Post by SamSpade »

Super S wrote:I have been watching one struggling mall to my north, The Commons at federal Way, formerly Seatac Mall. That mall about 5-10 years ago was in bad shape. There was a closed Lamonts store and a closed Mervyn's and a lot of vacancies, although Macy's and Sears were still present. They have since added a Target in the former Mervyn's space, constructed a new theatre in the former Lamonts space, and added Dick's Sporting Goods and a Kohl's store. More interesting stores also are present including longtime tenant Daiso (who opened a new location in the mall), which is a Japanese version of a dollar store. I was in that mall a few months back and it seems to be rebounding.

The anchor stores like Sears (as well as less common mall anchors like Target and Kmart) have enough variety to bring a wider demographic to the mall. When you lose those types of anchors, your demographics change considerably. And when the pet shops, book stores, music stores, electronics stores, drug/variety stores leave, there is less incentive to visit a mall when it becomes all clothes....
While on my weekend Seattle trip, I had to stop there for the first time in several years. The mall was mostly full and definitely has a mix of (locally strong but not necessarily exciting to out of towners) shops! The place was very busy except for pretty light traffic around Sears.

Daiso has the LARGEST location I've seen yet in this mall, and it was well worth the trip.

Definitely interesting how some centers can change and others are just slapped with being stuck in the mud.

Another Seattle "mall" that has reinvented itself is Westlake Center. After Pacific Place opened, it sort of became the second fiddle downtown center but over the past few years, GGP has severely remodeled the space after securing Nordstrom Rack as an anchor tenant in the "Metro" level. Then they snagged one of the few United States ZARA locations, and now are adding a Saks Off 5th to the upper levels. There's not much room left - but it's interesting to see a downtown traditional small-sized retailer mall changed into a big box store power center. (there are a few other unique / tourist-popular stores / restaurants in the mall as well as access to Seattle's monorail)
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