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Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:One of the first things a corporation does when it's spooked by bad reports is cut labor costs, and those jobs don't come back. "Consumers these days just aren't buying things, they want positive experiences. But don't worry, we have a foolproof plan for this situation." "All right, everybody with more than two years experience is fired. The rest of you are getting pay cuts, and if you deviate one word from your credit card upsell script or direct a customer to a lower-margin item just because 'it fits them' we will throw your rear end on the street. Oh, and we want to increase positive customer experiences, so if a secret shopper catches you without a smile on your face you're going to get written up."
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Apr 13, 2017 14:46
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The other problem with "jobs not coming back" is that I'm pretty sure e-commerce employs significantly fewer people compared to their sales volume. Obviously that ignores a lot of factors (wages, secondary jobs like couriers, etc.), but just a rough snapshot of revenue per employee: Costco: $942,063 Amazon: $398,768 Best Buy: $316,224 Wal-Mart: $211,247 Macy's: $163,225
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Apr 13, 2017 16:47
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OneEightHundred posted:The other problem with "jobs not coming back" is that I'm pretty sure e-commerce employs significantly fewer people compared to their sales volume. Obviously that ignores a lot of factors (wages, secondary jobs like couriers, etc.), but just a rough snapshot of revenue per employee: Guess which one gets paid the most?
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Apr 13, 2017 19:37
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Amazon offers a lot of services that aren't even really retail adjacent, like cloud computing and imdb and whatnot. I'm curious what the numbers would look like if they only took revenue and employees that are part of the online storefront. I knew costco paid well, I guess that partially explains how they're able to do that.
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Apr 13, 2017 19:44
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JC Penney Delays Plan to Close Stores After Sales Pick Up JC Penny is pushing back it's store closings by 1 month due a spike in sales. Sears has been quietly closing more stores than it said it would — here's the list and on the flip side Sears is closing more stores under the radar. http://www.retaildive.com/news/eastern-outfitters-plans-to-shutter-48-eastern-mountain-sports-bobs-store/440014/ Eastern Outfitters. Which owns Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports based in the Northeast. Has filed for bankruptcy and will close 48 of its 86 stores. http://www.businessinsider.com/retail-job-losses-are-hurting-the-economy-2017-4  Updated number of store closings announced.
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Apr 20, 2017 19:46
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The Eastern Mountain closings is funny to me, because the one closest to me is right next to a City Sports that went under last year when that chain went out of business.
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Apr 20, 2017 20:17
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Didn't Eastern Outfitters already file for bankruptcy last year and closed the Sports Chalet chain?
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Apr 21, 2017 00:18
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Horseshoe theory posted:Didn't Eastern Outfitters already file for bankruptcy last year and closed the Sports Chalet chain? Yes. This is their second filing. https://www.law360.com/articles/914844/sportsdirect-acquires-eastern-outfitters-in-ch-11-sale quote:Law360, Wilmington (April 19, 2017, 6:34 PM EDT) -- Eastern Outfitters LLC secured a Delaware bankruptcy judge’s approval Wednesday to hand off its business to SportsDirect.com Retail Ltd. for $105 million in debt take-backs and other consideration, in a deal that sends Eastern’s stores through their second Chapter 11 sale in less than a year.
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Apr 21, 2017 02:50
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By contrast though, REI is thriving.
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Apr 21, 2017 03:48
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asdf32 posted:By contrast though, REI is thriving. Is that because of lifestyle and location marketing? I know that in Portland, REI is located right in the Pearl District, which is full of young rich people with a lot of money.
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Apr 21, 2017 18:23
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glowing-fish posted:Is that because of lifestyle and location marketing? I know that in Portland, REI is located right in the Pearl District, which is full of young rich people with a lot of money. Well REI is also organized as a co-operative enterprise and doesn't participate in wild expansion sprees - they have less than 150 stores nationwide. This means they didn't overleverage themselves in a chase for shareholder profits over the past few decades the way other similar stores did.
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Apr 21, 2017 18:40
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fishmech posted:Well REI is also organized as a co-operative enterprise and doesn't participate in wild expansion sprees - they have less than 150 stores nationwide. This means they didn't overleverage themselves in a chase for shareholder profits over the past few decades the way other similar stores did. Pretty much. REI was my high school job and although they are very good EMS was a good competitor from a quality and customer service point of view. So is LLBean. So I assume REI's more steady expansion strategy is serving them well. The coop thing also helps brand loyalty and provides a lot of data to guide new store locations etc.
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Apr 21, 2017 19:58
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/04/21/sears-names-new-cfo-plans-more-store-closures/100763154/ More closures from Sears. 50 Sears Auto Centers and 92 pharmacies inside its Kmart stores will close.
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Apr 22, 2017 04:04
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I updated the OP and requested a thread title change. (To reflect the shift in this thread's focus towards the "apocalypse" in US retail)
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Apr 22, 2017 20:49
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I think there are a lot of reasons why REI is doing so well. One is their return policy is insanely good. You can return pretty much anything up to a year later, for a full refund, having used it, even if it has normal wear and tear. I've even returned boots that I've hiked in for > 100 miles before deciding I didn't like them. This is astonishingly better than amazon or anything else I know of. I'm not entirely sure how they stay in business doing this. Second is that outdoor equipment in general benefits from being able to try things on in person, or ask questions to staff, so as a sector you would expect retail stores to be doing better here than for regular clothing, electronics, office supplies, etc. For whatever reason, REI doesn't seem to have a whole lot of competitors in this sphere. Bass Pro, Cabelas I guess. Not sure what else. Most of these places are inferior in terms of selection, store availability/location, price, and staffing levels, at least in my personal experience. And their return policy is nowhere near as good, which is maybe the biggest disadvantage. I'm sure them being a co-op or other business practices are a factor, but I think that being in a "good" sector, occupying a niche without much competition, and an astonishingly good return policy might be the most important reasons for its success. Like 9/10 times if I buy something from REI vs. ordering online, the return policy is a major reason.
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Apr 22, 2017 23:57
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Bebe has gone bye-bye, 168 stores to close.Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:I knew costco paid well, I guess that partially explains how they're able to do that. Speaking of warehouse clubs, apparently Amazon may be looking at buying BJ's, which could create the ultimate retail doomsday device. OneEightHundred fucked around with this message at 00:10 on Apr 23, 2017 |
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Apr 23, 2017 00:06
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Morbus posted:I think there are a lot of reasons why REI is doing so well. Though step into an REI and you'll see that while there is specialized climbing gear and $600 backpacks the majority of the floor space is clothing which has plenty of competitors (and the high end stuff has decent local competition particularly right near the mountains/resorts etc). You can find North Face and Patagonia anywhere. The general camping stuff like tents and stoves is well covered by places like dicks sporting goods, bass-pro and even target and wal-mart besides EMS and Amazon. So yeah that's why I think customer service and knowledgeable employees plus the loyalty and management sanity of the coop system are what works for them. All of that holds up in the internet era. They've also always had a good house brand Though I have to say that it's hard to stomach their prices at this point in my life. I bought a down jacket and "soft-shell" at costco for $90 total and could have spent quadrouple that at REI minimum
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Apr 23, 2017 01:41
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Yeah but people who do that are a different market segment. REI has enough of a "brand" that people will buy it to advertise thier identity.
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Apr 23, 2017 01:55
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OneEightHundred posted:Bebe has gone bye-bye, 168 stores to close.
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Apr 23, 2017 02:18
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Fun look at how bankruptcy can cause a total unrecoverable meltdown even if the numbers look like they might be able to pull out. I worked in Topeka at a place that has been poaching a lot of talent from Payless corporate as of late. During my last week one of the ex-employees was saying how their corporate offices had a broken A/C but they couldn't get any of the local companies to come out and fix it because no one believed that they'd actually get paid (due to previously unpaid bills held up in court). If you can't keep your HQ below 80 in the summer, you might as well pack it up, really. I'd be shocked if payless was still a thing in 2 years, based on the stories I've heard from their corporate people.
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Apr 23, 2017 05:04
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Anubis posted:Fun look at how bankruptcy can cause a total unrecoverable meltdown even if the numbers look like they might be able to pull out. I worked in Topeka at a place that has been poaching a lot of talent from Payless corporate as of late. During my last week one of the ex-employees was saying how their corporate offices had a broken A/C but they couldn't get any of the local companies to come out and fix it because no one believed that they'd actually get paid (due to previously unpaid bills held up in court). If you can't keep your HQ below 80 in the summer, you might as well pack it up, really. I'd be shocked if payless was still a thing in 2 years, based on the stories I've heard from their corporate people. Except don't companies come through bankruptcy pretty often? Even if only by selling all their assets to a healthy firm?
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Apr 23, 2017 06:56
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Ogmius815 posted:Except don't companies come through bankruptcy pretty often? Even if only by selling all their assets to a healthy firm? Liquidating a firm by disposing of all the assets isn't really 'coming through', though - Chapter 7 is the end of the road for that entity, even if assets such as brand names, leases, etc. are acquired by another firm.
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Apr 23, 2017 18:29
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Horseshoe theory posted:Liquidating a firm by disposing of all the assets isn't really 'coming through', though - Chapter 7 is the end of the road for that entity, even if assets such as brand names, leases, etc. are acquired by another firm. 1. Haven't companies come through bankruptcy with their businesses more or less intact before? Like a bunch of airlines I seem to recall? 2. You're seeing things the wrong way. The brand names, IP, products, leases, employees. That's the company. If these things are transferred to a different pool of capital and different managers, didn't everything that mattered survive?
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Apr 23, 2017 19:55
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Ogmius815 posted:1. Haven't companies come through bankruptcy with their businesses more or less intact before? Like a bunch of airlines I seem to recall? The airline industry is entirely different than the retail business - in addition, they changed bankruptcy rules a few years ago that pretty much requires a pre-packaged plan or else you're going to liquidate (since you only have ~210 days to reorganize). quote:2. You're seeing things the wrong way. The brand names, IP, products, leases, employees. That's the company. If these things are transferred to a different pool of capital and different managers, didn't everything that mattered survive? Not really, no. And most of the time, employees and stores are gone, leaving the IP which means that it's basically a brand holding company like an Iconix rather than a real operating company that's left over.
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Apr 23, 2017 20:05
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Ogmius815 posted:1. Haven't companies come through bankruptcy with their businesses more or less intact before? Like a bunch of airlines I seem to recall? There are different kinds of bankruptcy. Chapter 11 is basically a reorganization process, for businesses that have a shot at getting back to normal but can't pay their bills right now. It's entirely possible (but by no means guaranteed) for a corporation to come through chapter 11 bankruptcy without total collapse and continue on more or less as it was. The major airline bankruptcies in the mid-2000s to early 2010s were chapter 11. Chapter 7 is a liquidation process. In a business context, it's for failed organizations that aren't ever coming back in anything close to their current form. Everything is liquidated and generally goes to the highest bidder. Bits and pieces might come through, but the corporation as a coherent unit is dead.
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Apr 23, 2017 20:44
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Doesn't chapter 11 bankruptcy also have a history of being abused?
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Apr 23, 2017 21:20
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Anubis posted:Fun look at how bankruptcy can cause a total unrecoverable meltdown even if the numbers look like they might be able to pull out. I worked in Topeka at a place that has been poaching a lot of talent from Payless corporate as of late. During my last week one of the ex-employees was saying how their corporate offices had a broken A/C but they couldn't get any of the local companies to come out and fix it because no one believed that they'd actually get paid (due to previously unpaid bills held up in court). If you can't keep your HQ below 80 in the summer, you might as well pack it up, really. I'd be shocked if payless was still a thing in 2 years, based on the stories I've heard from their corporate people. Back in the 2008 economic catasterfuck, I realized that GM was going to declare bankruptcy when I heard reports of them shutting down the escalators in the Renascence Center. Little things like that are surprisingly good indicators.
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Apr 23, 2017 22:25
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This is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MOwRTTq1bY "Scott Galloway speaks at L2’s Amazon Clinic about how Amazon is disrupting retail. Not only has Amazon changed consumer shopping habits, it has changed the relationship between shareholders and investors. Investors are no longer satisfied with steadily growing profits; instead they seek fast growth and strong vision – even at the expense of profitability. See video for insights on the future of brand, Alexa’s effect on households."
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Apr 24, 2017 02:14
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I'm really curious how the shrinking number of these stores affects actual land use in towns. It's probably a positive in places like San Diego which can use the land for housing (though that has it's own downsides), but I've driven through places where nothing exists except for a couple of big shopping centers.
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Apr 24, 2017 03:24
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Glass of Milk posted:I'm really curious how the shrinking number of these stores affects actual land use in towns. It's probably a positive in places like San Diego which can use the land for housing (though that has it's own downsides), but I've driven through places where nothing exists except for a couple of big shopping centers. One thing I have decided is that there is a lot of hell to pay for the way America has chosen to sub-urbanize, those choice are at the heart of so many problems.
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Apr 24, 2017 05:18
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Glass of Milk posted:It's probably a positive in places like San Diego which can use the land for housing (though that has it's own downsides)
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Apr 24, 2017 10:50
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Shopping parks are often terribly positioned. Converting them to housing would be lovely housing with no transport access.
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Apr 24, 2017 14:41
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OneEightHundred posted:The other problem with "jobs not coming back" is that I'm pretty sure e-commerce employs significantly fewer people compared to their sales volume. Obviously that ignores a lot of factors (wages, secondary jobs like couriers, etc.), but just a rough snapshot of revenue per employee: I work for best buy, and get paid costco wages, which is part of why i genuinely like my job most days. There are things I hate about it (which is normal retail stuff, like lovely people), but all my coworkers are for the most part, genuinely happy with their job, or at least if not happy, content. There's actually decent benefits, the discount is dope, (except on loss leaders, since it's tied to cost) and its not a terrible place to work. Compare that to when i worked for the company back in high school, and they've completely changed the culture of the company. There's still the drive to get everyone to sign up for the credit card, and to shill protection plans, but a lot of the "protection" plans are shifting to straight replacement plans, which has a lot more value - especially on something like a fitbit, where you can spend $30 for the convience of bringing it into the store, and us giving you a new one, compared to bringing it into us and us just shipping it out for service, which honestly, you can do yourself. TVs over 51" we now send someone to your house to repair, rather than have to haul it in to us. There's a reason why best buy keeps actually having quaterly gains - the new CEO realized that paying a living wage, and doing things for the convience of the customer means that we're no longer the amazon showroom. We do free delivery on TVs, and the only place we really gouge you is services, where, really, it's a convience tax - if you don't want to mount your TV yourself, it's expensive as poo poo to have us do it, but if you're that lazy, then the $200 isn't a bad deal. Ten years ago when I worked there in high school it was completely different - it was a lot of "sell everything you can to the customer, even if they don't need it" and now it's "upsell what you can, but make sure it works for the customer." If a customer really only needs a cheap TV to do presentations with in the office, you don't need to sell them a $4000 4k OLED, you can sell them a $200 chromecast-only 1080p "smart" tv. The only place it seems like we "upsell" is PC, because let's face it, that $150 celereron laptop with 2g of ram is just going to make you hate your life, listen to us when we say if you only want to spend $150 to get a chromebook instead. We now work with your budget, rather than stretch you beyond your means, because we'd rather the customer be happy than be upsold. Happy customers keep coming back, and $150 six times a year is more than $500 once and never again. The culture of how we do buisiness and how we see the customers has changed, because if you just stick minimum wage slaves in there, then yes, the place is going to be the amazon showroom. All my coworkers are actually super knowledgeable on at least their department, so we can actually give you the rundown on *why* we are steering you towards a specific solution. I'm not trying to upsell you when i tell you an N600 router is not going to suit your needs, if you have multiple people streaming at once. I'm telling you that you probably want an AC1750+, and probably a 3200 if you have 3 smart tvs streaming at a time. Unless you have crappy internet, in which case, I'll sell you the N600 because if you're out in the sticks with satellite internet, ain't nothing going to fix that, you don't need a better router, you need to move somewhere where you can actually get more than 2mbs. Plus, phones. Phones make the company a lot of money. There's a reason we could do $100 off the s8+. We still have been closing stores, but that's also because we expanded way beyond what was necessary in the past. There is no need for 6 stores in 50 miles. And in store closures, best buy guaranteed a job to like 90% of employees if they moved to a store that wasn't being closed. Because happy employees = motivated employees = people that actually want to help the customer = customers that actually buy poo poo in store instead of online. Dr Jankenstein fucked around with this message at 15:02 on Apr 24, 2017 |
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Apr 24, 2017 14:59
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OwlFancier posted:Shopping parks are often terribly positioned. Converting them to housing would be lovely housing with no transport access. fake edit: I just looked at Google Maps and San Diego proper covers a much larger geographical area that I had thought. But even in that case, seems like you could still use this as an opportunity, create some denser mixed-use developments and run buses to and from there.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:03
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OwlFancier posted:Shopping parks are often terribly positioned. Converting them to housing would be lovely housing with no transport access. Westwood Village 2600 SW Barton St, Seattle, WA 98126 (206) 322-1610 https://goo.gl/maps/i8xStFVjt4u University Village 2623 NE University Village St #7, Seattle, WA 98105 (206) 523-0622 https://goo.gl/maps/GnANeY5paLJ2 It's loving ridiculous that neither of these campuses have a single piece of residential housing in them. DR FRASIER KRANG fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Apr 24, 2017 |
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Apr 24, 2017 15:12
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Glass of Milk posted:I'm really curious how the shrinking number of these stores affects actual land use in towns. It's probably a positive in places like San Diego which can use the land for housing (though that has it's own downsides), but I've driven through places where nothing exists except for a couple of big shopping centers. OwlFancier posted:Shopping parks are often terribly positioned. Converting them to housing would be lovely housing with no transport access. As far as changing retail into housing, I would think it would be only a little bit better than plowing up an empty field and building houses. I've read some people talking about converting retail directly into housing, and for various reasons, that a pretty ridiculous idea (I mean, it sounds awesome but where are you going to go to the bathroom in your old Cinnabon kiosk?). You can also tear down a mall and build housing on its site, and you have the advantages of the roads and electricity and some water going in, but you are still going to probably adjust that infrastructure a lot (I'm imagining the water/sewer for a shopping mall isn't what you need for a residential area), and you have transportation mismatch. I would say building on a retail complex might save 20% off of building from scratch?
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Apr 24, 2017 15:13
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HEY NONG MAN posted:Westwood Village If they're in the middle of a residential district already that's a good thing, because it means that the people who live there have a place to shop without driving miles. They perhaps should not be as big as that for such a low density area, but the problem there is not that one block is not also low density residential.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:17
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Land use can get really complicated quick, especially in WA because of something called the Growth Management Act. Mixed use is definitely the way of the future but literally inside Seattle is going to have some confounding factors beyond, "could retail thrive here".
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Apr 24, 2017 15:25
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Glass of Milk posted:I'm really curious how the shrinking number of these stores affects actual land use in towns. It's probably a positive in places like San Diego which can use the land for housing (though that has it's own downsides), but I've driven through places where nothing exists except for a couple of big shopping centers. There was a thing on Nightly Business Report (PBS business news) talking about this very issue. They found that despite the issues we're talking baout here, rent had increased slightly and occupancy was stable. Many of the closed stores were being replaced with high end gyms, restaurants and other "experience" based businesses.
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Apr 24, 2017 15:48
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Kind of a rehash of the previous list I posted, so no real shock on who is distressed.
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Apr 25, 2017 00:15
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