Retail Watchers

Indie bookstores are thriving. The idies have survived by emphasizing service and understanding who their customers are. They also have multiple ways to drive traffic---the surviving stores do a lot of author events---DC's Politics and Prose has quite a few of these on C-Span which creates an audie...

After visiting half a dozen Fry's this weekend, I am baffled as to where the criticism is coming from. I've driven from Peoria to Glendale to Gilbert to Chandler to Tempe and to Scottsdale plus through the city. I would kill for a single Ralphs in SoCal that executes on the level of every Fry's I've...

Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade was once a vibrant outdoor mall, but now it is a ghost town. There are many possible causes: homeless people, loss of chain stores, etc. They are thinking that perhaps Eatertainment may save it. Who knows. I was in the area in 2019 and the pier and beach were p...

When I was at KFC in the late 80s the lifespan of a KFC box was 30 years...I don't think they have done anything that would cause a step-change in that life since; the reasoning was that the technology and decor/setup/offering changes the older buildings become obsolete. You can see that as they ha...

Here's what I'm thinking: Dollar Tree doesn't have any plans to " operate 99 Cents Only" beyond keeping stores open in a transition period while they remodel, like Aldi/Winn-Dixie. I have my doubts these stores will offer produce, and any of the 99 Cents branded items they used to carry d...

Target threw another "food and grocery" $5 off $30 coupon. Their food pricing is terrible and I actually see what seem like price increases this week compared to last week... Using the coupon got their prices about down to Wal Mart levels, at best, but I think I still ended up paying more...

Considering Barnes & Noble is their largest growth spurt in two decades and trying to acquire leases large and small, I would say that bookstores are alive and will at the small and large levels, just evolving. The bookstores that are closing didn't evolve with the rest of the industry. There is...

Would a 99 Cent Only Stores run by Dollar Tree be an improvement? Here's what I'm thinking: Dollar Tree doesn't have any plans to " operate 99 Cents Only" beyond keeping stores open in a transition period while they remodel, like Aldi/Winn-Dixie. I have my doubts these stores will offer p...

I checked this out yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised about how good the store looked. This is the first time I've seen that reclaimed barnwood decor look good in a store. I'm glad they didn't remove some of the nicer decorative elements, such as the live trees in the store. This decor looks m...

San Diego does not have a real housing shortage, they have the worst short term rental issue in the country and do nothing about it. Their rules state nobody can operate more than one, but they have people who buy entire reasonably affordable apartment complexes and issue eviction notices to every u...