Retail Watchers

Now I remembered where I saw a building like that around here. That building bears a VERY strong resemblance to the Shopko in Salem, Oregon: http://atlasinv.com/assets/content/siteImages/_standardImage/ShopKo-Salem.jpg The Albertsons picture seems to look too small for a Shopko type of store, but th...

The outlet stores are so hit or miss with what they carry though. Some have a little of everything while others are pretty much appliances only. They don't seem to ever have much in the way of tools though. This could be because of how many service centers have disappeared. The outlets used to carry...

I paid a visit to the Kelso Macy's today to see what they had. I haven't been inside this store since the Bon days. I can see why it is closing though. At 51,000 square feet this is one of the smaller ones, and it shows in how small the departments are. It was always difficult to find men's clothing...

I went to the Kmart in Chehalis, WA today. This store is one of the nicer looking ones near me, partially due to the fact that it was flooded a few years back and received a remodel before reopening. This means it has nice looking floor tiles, conveyor belt checkstands, nicer than average restrooms,...

The pictures of the Sparks Kmart remind me of that bad one in Beaverton, OR. I find it funny that they have adult diapers right below where the ceiling is leaking and next to the buckets...

Regarding snow shovels etc. This problem has affected many retailers this month. In Longview, WA where I live, we have had an unusually long and cold weather period that also affected Idaho and most of the Northwest. There is no Kmart nearby, but EVERY local store including Walmart, Fred Meyer, Lowe...

Old Kmarts weren't much to look at, even back in the 1970s and 1980s. Compared to the other guys out there at the time, Kmart was a veritable palace; clean and organized. For the department stores, that was true. But discount stores didn't have the same thing. Target got rid of them fairly early on...

I guess this was inevitable....I saw an Albertson's truck pulling a Safeway trailer today. Made me wonder which brand they are going to use on replacement trucks/trailers going forward. Or if they'll simply use unmarked ones. Time will tell.

JCP is trying to paint a picture of doing well. I guess they are doing better than Sears right now (Macys too?). The CEO was quoted recently making some vague statements like he would close a store he wouldn't want his wife to shop in or close a store he wouldn't want his daughter to work in. What ...

JCPenney seems to be stabilizing. I haven't seen them mention any store closures at all. Of course it's only mid-January...