SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
pseudo3d
Posts: 3853
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 7:01 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 77 times
Status: Online

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote: August 17th, 2020, 8:40 pm
SamSpade wrote: August 15th, 2020, 12:57 am Tyler, Texas' was in a strange shopping center from what I recall. Maybe years ago good trade, but didn't seem that way in 2016. But, by the main post office. :lol:
Somewhat ironically, the Tyler store was originally built as a higher-end grocery store out of Dallas (I forgot which chain) which only remained open for a couple of years. At this point, a Marshalls moved in and operated in the space until the early 90's, where it moved south as part of a new retail strip where it is still located today. After Marshalls' departure, Stein Mart took over the space (and expanded it to the north; the original portion of the space has a large open ceiling with exposed fluorescent lighting somewhat reminiscent of a Marina Safeway). By the time of Stein Mart's opening, most of the retail growth had shifted to far south Tyler between Loop 323 and Grande Blvd (which later pushed even further south with the opening of a new Walmart Supercenter and a replacement Target store in 1998). The saving grace of Stein Mart's Tyler location was the fact that it was still in a frequently traveled area for many residents and had excellent visibility. The store was also located close to much of the Tyler "old money" clustered in the Azalea District to the north. Overall, it had a good run and seemed to pull decent traffic considering the size of the market.
Early 1970s Newspapers.com indicate it being Wards Drugs. Did Tom Thumb try to expand to Tyler?
architect
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 843
Joined: December 8th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 7 times
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by architect »

pseudo3d wrote: August 21st, 2020, 3:09 am
architect wrote: August 17th, 2020, 8:40 pm
SamSpade wrote: August 15th, 2020, 12:57 am Tyler, Texas' was in a strange shopping center from what I recall. Maybe years ago good trade, but didn't seem that way in 2016. But, by the main post office. :lol:
Somewhat ironically, the Tyler store was originally built as a higher-end grocery store out of Dallas (I forgot which chain) which only remained open for a couple of years. At this point, a Marshalls moved in and operated in the space until the early 90's, where it moved south as part of a new retail strip where it is still located today. After Marshalls' departure, Stein Mart took over the space (and expanded it to the north; the original portion of the space has a large open ceiling with exposed fluorescent lighting somewhat reminiscent of a Marina Safeway). By the time of Stein Mart's opening, most of the retail growth had shifted to far south Tyler between Loop 323 and Grande Blvd (which later pushed even further south with the opening of a new Walmart Supercenter and a replacement Target store in 1998). The saving grace of Stein Mart's Tyler location was the fact that it was still in a frequently traveled area for many residents and had excellent visibility. The store was also located close to much of the Tyler "old money" clustered in the Azalea District to the north. Overall, it had a good run and seemed to pull decent traffic considering the size of the market.
Early 1970s Newspapers.com indicate it being Wards Drugs. Did Tom Thumb try to expand to Tyler?
After further investigation, the store was most likely Weingarten's out of Houston. I know for sure that the Wards Drugs was in the space at the far north end of the shopping center, and that the present Stein Mart space started out as a grocer.

Tom Thumb did make an entry into East Texas in the 1980's with a single store each in both Tyler and Longview. Both stores were sold to Albertsons in the 1990's. The Longview store closed fairly quickly, while the Tyler store held out until 2011 with little renovation. It is now a Walmart Neighborhood Market.
User avatar
submariner
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Founder of RetailWatchers.com
Posts: 571
Joined: February 22nd, 2009, 10:35 am
Location: Canberra, ACT, Australia
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 24 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by submariner »

Putting this in the right topic. Also, make sure this stays on topic to SteinMart.
storewanderer
Posts: 14396
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 299 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by storewanderer »

Went into the Reno Stein Mart liquidation sale again. Men's department is about 33% stocked and the rest is now being used for fixture sales; cannot believe how little men's stuff they had there. The women's clothing and accessories are still pretty well stocked. The new kid's clothing area is full. The home area was about 50% stocked and I was very surprised how much had been sold there. It appears the liquidator has brought in some new items like robes, and some home items. What was weird was I was the only customer in the store. After that I went over to Trader Joe's and there were at least 50 customers in there, so the shopping center overall had traffic.
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1570
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by SamSpade »

In case anyone was wondering what a Stein Mart looks like, Retail Archaeology visited two in the Phoenix, Ariz. area. These locations seem to have a decent amount of men's inventory. Definitely the "golf/country club" crowd, I'd say.
buckguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1005
Joined: January 31st, 2017, 10:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by buckguy »

Went to one in Beachwood (outside of Cleveland) yesterday--small golf section, more men's stuff than other posts led me to expect (maybe 20-25% of the floor space) and it's the usual shirts, pants, accessories. They seem to have a little more upscale brands than a Marshall's, but I didn't see how the created a compelling reason to shop there.
storewanderer
Posts: 14396
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 299 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by storewanderer »

buckguy wrote: September 1st, 2020, 9:44 am Went to one in Beachwood (outside of Cleveland) yesterday--small golf section, more men's stuff than other posts led me to expect (maybe 20-25% of the floor space) and it's the usual shirts, pants, accessories. They seem to have a little more upscale brands than a Marshall's, but I didn't see how the created a compelling reason to shop there.
I often wondered where they got inventory from. The brands offered at least on men's were definitely a step up from their competition. Long ago they measured for suits too, but stopped that years ago. I wonder if the deaths of so many regional department store chains caused them some challenges in getting inventory as I am suspicious they were, historically, being "fed" merchandise by many regional department store chains.
buckguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1005
Joined: January 31st, 2017, 10:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by buckguy »

Regional department stores haven't really existed since maybe the 80s, with all the consolidation and centralization of buying. The big chains might have dealt directly with Stein Mart or perhaps via a buying coop like AMC (which still exists, but is owned by Target---it used to be related to but not entirely owned by Federated). OTOH, it may be have been easier to work through a liquidator like Schottenstein (parent of DSW and the defunct Value City) which, among other things, liquidated a number of high end chains like Halle Brothers (which they bought from Marshall Fields) in the 80s and regularly sold closeouts from Saks 5th Avenue through their Value City stores.

The real problem with these offprice stores and with outlets is that as major chains and manufacturers improved their supply chain management, there has been less overstock merchandise to sell. That's probably why outlet malls have so little actual "outlet" stuff and windup selling a lot at "mall prices" or sell low quality goods that would never be sold under their name in a department or specialty store. Sometimes, they just moved an entry level line into the outlet, like Brooks Brothers Brooksgate which used to be in their stores, but now only turns up in outlets. It seems like about a third of the Nordstrom Rack merchandise is made for the Rack and would never have been sold in a regular Nordstrom. One thing I noticed at Stein Mart was that they had the same Calvin Klein underwear packaging that periodically turns up at Costco, so I suspect that some of what they had may have been "made or repackaged for offprice retail" by manufacturers.
storewanderer
Posts: 14396
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 299 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by storewanderer »

buckguy wrote: September 6th, 2020, 12:19 pm Regional department stores haven't really existed since maybe the 80s, with all the consolidation and centralization of buying. The big chains might have dealt directly with Stein Mart or perhaps via a buying coop like AMC (which still exists, but is owned by Target---it used to be related to but not entirely owned by Federated). OTOH, it may be have been easier to work through a liquidator like Schottenstein (parent of DSW and the defunct Value City) which, among other things, liquidated a number of high end chains like Halle Brothers (which they bought from Marshall Fields) in the 80s and regularly sold closeouts from Saks 5th Avenue through their Value City stores.

The real problem with these offprice stores and with outlets is that as major chains and manufacturers improved their supply chain management, there has been less overstock merchandise to sell. That's probably why outlet malls have so little actual "outlet" stuff and windup selling a lot at "mall prices" or sell low quality goods that would never be sold under their name in a department or specialty store. Sometimes, they just moved an entry level line into the outlet, like Brooks Brothers Brooksgate which used to be in their stores, but now only turns up in outlets. It seems like about a third of the Nordstrom Rack merchandise is made for the Rack and would never have been sold in a regular Nordstrom. One thing I noticed at Stein Mart was that they had the same Calvin Klein underwear packaging that periodically turns up at Costco, so I suspect that some of what they had may have been "made or repackaged for offprice retail" by manufacturers.
We had Gottschalks/Harris out west well into the 00's and also the small Emporium-Oregon chain well into the 00's. I forget when May bought Utah ZCMI out but I think it was at least well into the 90's. Not sure if I may be missing any others. Plus there was the Carsons/Herbergers etc. chain that lasted even longer which was a cobbled together group of regional department stores (Gottschalks would have been a good fit into their operation).
buckguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1005
Joined: January 31st, 2017, 10:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: SteinMart Files for Bankruptcy.

Post by buckguy »

There certainly were regional chains that outlasted the competition like Strawbridge & Clothier in Philly (lasted into the 90s), plus you've got Boscov's and Van Maur who are truly old school and still around, but mostly the regionals have been gone for a long time.

May started consolidating their chains around the time they bought ADS in '86 and Federated was doing likewise, esp. after the merger with Allied. ADS already had started to consolidate in the Midwest even before the merger with May. You take those banners, plus Mercantile (which had centralized buying before anyone else) and Dillard (Wall Street loved them because of their centralized buying) and you had the vast majority of large and middle market chains. The endless mergers around Proffitts, Saks, etc. came a short time later, with Bon-Ton and Elder-Beerman picking up pieces of chains that abandoned one market or another, but the model was centralized, not localized. So really, the regional banners that people are so sad about mostly haven't functioned in decades.
Post Reply