Retail Watchers

Yeah, I never heard or witnessed that about Ralphs. The 2 Ralphs in the Koreatown area are quite busy. I noticed many Asian folks at the Westwood Fresh Fare as well. Come to think about it, the Fresh Fare by UCSD was usually packed with (I think) mostly Chinese students shopping. I think I need to ...

It's hard for me to see how Albertsons and Kroger thought this new deal would entice the FTC any better. I know someone said maybe it was simply to get the states that were suing off their backs, but the FTC was very clear that C&S is simply a questionable buyer, and it's going to take actual l...

If a chain is in long-term decline, then rising rents will give them more reason to keep closing stores. I'm surprised when I see any of these places that have been named, because they've gotten fewer and fewer. International operations probably keep some of them afloat--chains like Shkey's and Ken...

Sam's Club may be in expand mode in the central valley as they are opening a store in Visalia and are looking at locations in Clovis. Costco is looking for sites in SE Fresno for future expansion as the Sunnyside and Fancher Creek areas are going to see growth in the coming years as will Sanger. In...

I was wondering if/when the Nordstrom site repurposing would start. It doesn't surprise me that the former Sears is fully (or near-fully) leased. The mall is so busy that vacancies don't remain vacancies for very long. UTC is an absolutely beautiful mall. My favorite, TBH. Even before the renovatio...

That JoAnn is in a former Sprouse-Reitz location, and I agree, it is probably going to wind up closing with Hobby Lobby coming to town. Ben Franklin was a great store when it was here - I remember going there a lot while I was a student at Corbett and Mark Twain Elementary in the late 80s/early 90s...

Allegedly the number one performing region at Sam's for the last 4 years is California. It's carrying their whole organization. Remember that Sam's historically botched California and had opened themselves up to being run out of the state by the Costco Business Center rollout, but then Sam's turned...

So I looked up SLO and it closes at 11 PM. So does Ridgecrest, Atascadero, Bishop, also close at 11 PM. But then Paso Robles - 10 PM. Doesn't make any sense. I am trying to think it has something to do with theft but I'm not seeing the logic. And it definitely doesn't have anything to do with traff...

What would be the impact of closing earlier? Is it a labor saving reason or is it a theft issue? If they opened later, would the extra sales pay for the extra labor? Is shoplifting so bad, that opening past 10 would result in losses so bad the extra sales would not make up for it? It's all assumpti...

Chili's closed both the Irvine and Aliso Viejo locations recently. Both locations were always super busy with waits on weekends. Both were featuring trial menus in which the "3 For Me" was priced at $16.99 and above. I suspect the rents swelled so they closed up shop... I think it's diffi...