Retail Watchers

pseudo3d wrote: ↑September 18th, 2020, 9:17 pm
I'm not sure about the Goodwill connection, I know Goodwill tends to have a bunch of "franchisees" (for lack of a better word) that do things slightly differently, like how some Goodwill stores will move into a dead retail building but then you have the ones in central Florida with attractive new builds.

Technically the Goodwills are different non-profit entities by region completely separate entities, 990 tax return filed, management, etc. but members of sorts of the national Goodwill entity. As far as the stores go, they all say Goodwill, but the actual operation of the stores is quite different depending on the controlling entity.

Value Village/Savers works with non-profits to source items (they have historically been big at buying donations from MS) but they are a for-profit business and I believe all of their stores are corporate owned. They let MS and other non-profits collect items for them then pay MS by the pound for the items and sort them for resale (or disposal). A Savers recently closed in Sparks, NV.

storewanderer wrote: ↑September 20th, 2020, 12:42 am

pseudo3d wrote: ↑September 18th, 2020, 9:17 pm
I'm not sure about the Goodwill connection, I know Goodwill tends to have a bunch of "franchisees" (for lack of a better word) that do things slightly differently, like how some Goodwill stores will move into a dead retail building but then you have the ones in central Florida with attractive new builds.

Technically the Goodwills are different non-profit entities by region completely separate entities, 990 tax return filed, management, etc. but members of sorts of the national Goodwill entity. As far as the stores go, they all say Goodwill, but the actual operation of the stores is quite different depending on the controlling entity.

Value Village/Savers works with non-profits to source items (they have historically been big at buying donations from MS) but they are a for-profit business and I believe all of their stores are corporate owned. They let MS and other non-profits collect items for them then pay MS by the pound for the items and sort them for resale (or disposal). A Savers recently closed in Sparks, NV.

The one here has announcements playing over the PA system that mentions Suncoast Goodwill Stores. It's in a former Office Max and takes up the whole store so it's pretty big. Plus it has concrete floors and warehouse ceilings. I don't remember if Office Max originally had concrete floors or if it had tiles and Goodwill removed them, but I'm thinking the former.

I remember years ago there was another Goodwill in my area in a shopping center (which that section has since been demolished). It felt more like a typical mom and pop thrift store in that it was much smaller, and there were no new items for sale, unlike the current Goodwill where I'd say 1/5 of the items are new. That store seemed to have a southwestern flair to its decor, and had teal and pinkish colors if I remember right. This was in the late 90s/very early 2000s.

Back to Halloween stores, I guess it is possible Spirit did team up with Goodwill in order to continue to run a store here. Still at this point, seems they could easily open in the former Kmart or even now, Sears, and have lots more space, vs Goodwill where the selection is very condensed vs a typical Spirit store. I would think the mall would be interested in getting any revenue they could for those spaces, even if it is just seasonal.

cjd wrote: ↑September 20th, 2020, 5:25 am

Back to Halloween stores, I guess it is possible Spirit did team up with Goodwill in order to continue to run a store here. Still at this point, seems they could easily open in the former Kmart or even now, Sears, and have lots more space, vs Goodwill where the selection is very condensed vs a typical Spirit store. I would think the mall would be interested in getting any revenue they could for those spaces, even if it is just seasonal.

I think Spirit, due to the nature of their business, takes what they can get. With that said, there are some locations where they appear year after year, but others where they no longer operate. I am sure there is an ideal size for them but highly doubt a store like this would be able to occupy an entire large space such as a former Kmart.

I wonder if they are operating fitting rooms right now...it seems that the restrictions in place right now (where many retailers still have them closed) will hurt an operation that specializes in costumes.

Super S wrote: ↑September 20th, 2020, 8:40 am

cjd wrote: ↑September 20th, 2020, 5:25 am

Back to Halloween stores, I guess it is possible Spirit did team up with Goodwill in order to continue to run a store here. Still at this point, seems they could easily open in the former Kmart or even now, Sears, and have lots more space, vs Goodwill where the selection is very condensed vs a typical Spirit store. I would think the mall would be interested in getting any revenue they could for those spaces, even if it is just seasonal.

I think Spirit, due to the nature of their business, takes what they can get. With that said, there are some locations where they appear year after year, but others where they no longer operate. I am sure there is an ideal size for them but highly doubt a store like this would be able to occupy an entire large space such as a former Kmart.

I wonder if they are operating fitting rooms right now...it seems that the restrictions in place right now (where many retailers still have them closed) will hurt an operation that specializes in costumes.

I think usually they just blocked off sections of the space if they were in a location that was too large. I'd think they could easily open in a Kmart near an entrance and then leave the rest of it empty. That said the cost of paying rent on an entire space and only using part, as well as the utility costs, might make it pointless.

Apparently, the fitting rooms are open at Spirit Halloween. However, I do not know if items are quarantined after people try them on. I know Target has quarantine rooms in the fitting rooms for dirty items.

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑September 20th, 2020, 2:01 pm Apparently, the fitting rooms are open at Spirit Halloween. However, I do not know if items are quarantined after people try them on. I know Target has quarantine rooms in the fitting rooms for dirty items.

This might vary by area. I know that Fred Meyer and Target have had their fitting rooms closed for a while now, as have many other stores in Washington.

Target is using the fitting rooms to quarantine returned items. The actual fitting rooms are not open for trying on clothes. Walmart also closed their fitting rooms.

My local Target has no Halloween decorations. There is a candy area, but no other merchandise related to Halloween. Walmart has a Halloween section.

Target finally added a Halloween section. The selection is much less than last year. It seems like Target purposely made the Halloween area smaller this year.

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑September 23rd, 2020, 3:54 pm Target finally added a Halloween section. The selection is much less than last year. It seems like Target purposely made the Halloween area smaller this year.

Wonder if it's just them thinking people won't want as much this year, or if they've had problems getting items. Seems logical that items for this time might have been scheduled for production during the early part of this when many places were being shut down - that's likely the reasoning that Peeps aren't selling Halloween or Christmas designs this year, and it only seems sensible that other manufacturers may have had disruptions as well.