Steve Barry
Retail Bailouts & Bankruptcies
Now that the financial institutions have received all of their pre Christmas bailout money and now that the automobile industry is getting a down payment on their billions, with Christmas over, is it time for the retailers to get their share of the hand outs, bailouts, or whatever you want to call them? After all, Christmas is 30-50% of some retailers entire year sales.
U.S. retailers face a wave of store closings, bankruptcies and takeovers starting next month as holiday sales are shaping up to be the worst in 40 years. Retailers may close 73,000 stores in the first half of 2009, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. You read that right! 73,000 stores may close!
More unemployment.
More than a dozen retailers, including Circuit City Stores Inc., Linens ‘n Things Inc., Sharper Image Corp. and Steve & Barry’s LLC, have sought bankruptcy protection this year as the credit squeeze and recession drained sales. Investors will start seeing a wide variety of chains seeking bankruptcy protection in February when they file financial reports, said Burt Flickinger.
“You’ll see department stores, specialty stores, discount stores, grocery stores, drugstores, major chains either multi- regionally or nationally go out,” Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a retail-industry consulting firm in New York, said today in a Bloomberg Radio interview. “There are a number that are real causes for concern.”
Retail Metrics Inc.’s December comparable-store sales index will drop an estimated 1.2 percent, or 5 percent excluding Wal- Mart Stores Inc. Retailers’ fourth-quarter earnings may fall 19% on average, the seventh consecutive quarterly decline, according to Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a Swampscott, Massachusetts-based consulting firm.
This is dire news no matter how you cut it.
Probably 50,000 stores could close without any effect on consumer choice, Gregory Segall, a managing partner at buyout firm Versa Capital Management Inc., said this month during a panel discussion held at Bloomberg LP’s New York offices. Only retailers with healthy balance sheets will survive the recession, according to Matthew Katz, a managing director at consulting firm AlixPartners LLP.
I bet Obama can’t wait to get back to the mainland to begin solving all of these bankruptcy problems. Oh yes, and the war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.
About the Author
As a spiritual-futurist, I interpret current events in light of possible macro-universal forces at play leading up to 2012, but not limited to it.
Steve & Barry’s: Beyond the Campus Scene
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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou $1.99 … |
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True Confessions $1.99 … |
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The Cincinnati Kid (1965) $9.99 … |
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Backstage Past $15.44 Backstage Past will take you backstage into the dressing rooms and behind the scenes with the worlds greatest rock stars and legendary promoter, Barry Fey. Long before corporate greed took over the rock concert business and caused ticket prices to skyrocket, Barry Fey and his company Feyline Concerts were promoting shows with ticket prices under $10 for The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, Jimi… |
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New Year’s Steve $2.50 Billy has made his list of New Year’s resolutions but keeps them secret, as always, from his boyfriend Steve who hopes high on the list is a pledge of fidelity. But the New Year’s Eve celebrations blow the best intentions out of the water, especially when Steve is trapped in the penthouse hotel apartment of a former boyfriend, unbeknownst to Billy who is a waiter at the raucous gay pool party … |
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The Columbus Affair: A Novel $10.10 He was called by many names—Columb, Colom, Colón—but we know him as Christopher Columbus. Many questions about him exist: Where was he born, raised, and educated? Where did he die? How did he discover the New World? None have ever been properly answered. And then there is the greatest secret of all. From Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author, comes an exciting new adventure—one … |
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First Love – A historic gathering of Jesus Music pioneers – III $9.99 … |
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Wonderful World of Flying #18 [VHS] $28.45 … |
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Proficient Flying, #3 [VHS] $29.95 … |
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