Retail Watchers

There is construction in Reno on North Virginia between the 7-11 and Raising Canes. There is a coming soon Ruby's sign with the logo of the SoCal chain, and a permit that says this will be "Rubys Shake Shack." This is near a bunch of miserably institutional looking student housing. This si...

If these lower capacity dining rooms need less labor then restaurants should keep them open. Closing dining rooms doesn't save much labor at all, but causes a huge loss in sales. The remodeled Burger King that I pass by almost daily has their dining room open from 6 am to Midnight. The double drive...

I was referring to when Cornell was CEO of Michaels, where he had very luxurious prototypes built that resembles a Barnes and Noble/Toys R Us type store with custom fixtures everywhere, lower gondolas like CVS, fancy signage and screens everywhere. They went in during 2008, and by end of 2009 they ...

The Rite Aid bankruptcy was supposed to end April 22. There is now a new filing in the Kroll website of dockets: This is Docket 2774. Does this mean the bankruptcy is being extended? "Upon the Debtors’ Motion for Entry of an Order (I) Extending the Debtors’ Exclusive Periods to File a Chapter ...

I was there not long before COVID. There was some retail development around the big hotels, but nothing really memorable. It's clear that the downtown business district once spanned close to a mile along 16th and adjacent streets toward Union Station--I stayed in a repurposed warehouse/industrial b...

Recent Burger King remodels have removed a large amount of chairs and tables. The seating capacity is probably only a third of what used to be there. There is a lot of empty floor space. No more outdoor tables or chairs. Those were removed for a double drive-thru. Perhaps they think that fewer dine...

So the backrooms are STUFFED FULL in both Reno and Sparks. The stores are closing on or BY April 28 (some employees think they could be closed any second). So I asked what is happening to the stuff in the backroom. I was told they are going to pick it all up and nothing more is going to be stocked. ...

Funny that this comes up as I happened to be driving around the back of a shopping center with a Trader Joe's last week and I noticed on their loading dock area they had a TJ's branded pop-up canopy with boxes of merchandise (or perhaps and hopefully, store supplies) being stored underneath! Was it...

Fred Meyer would be its own company. Under one scenario, divest Fred Meyer, throw in Ralphs, Fry's, Smith's (except for Utah, those get converted to Safeway or Albertsons), King Soopers, Randalls, Tom Thumb, and Mariano's. Some of those stores could be traded around, but it creates a complete, viab...

The Rite Aid bankruptcy was supposed to end April 22. There is now a new filing in the Kroll website of dockets: This is Docket 2774. Does this mean the bankruptcy is being extended? "Upon the Debtors’ Motion for Entry of an Order (I) Extending the Debtors’ Exclusive Periods to File a Chapter 1...