Word: retail
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...plunge made Wall Street veterans grab for their rip cords. "I've never seen a stock fall that far, that fast," said Barry Bryant, a retail analyst at Drexel Burnham Lambert. "This is a decline that leaves you gasping." Only a month ago Gap Inc., owner of the Gap, GapKids and the Banana Republic clothing chains, had been one of the stock market's highest flyers. But from an August peak of 77 7/8, the stock sank to 37 early last week, down 52%. That included a 10 1/4-point drop last Monday alone...
...which is based in San Bruno, Calif., has been an innovative leader in the specialty retail business that is siphoning sales away from department stores. Founded in 1969 by Entrepreneur Donald Fisher, the company relied heavily on the blue-jeans craze in the 1970s, but then added bright-colored, practical sports clothes. In 1983 Fisher made two shrewd moves. He bought Banana Republic, a San Francisco retailer with three stores and a catalog operation that sold trendy travel and safari wear, and he hired a new president, Millard Drexler, the marketing whiz from the Bronx who had turned around...
...last week the stock started obeying all physical laws. The trouble began at a Sept. 17 Manhattan conference on the retail industry with Smith Barney as host. Dozens of top Wall Street analysts and institutional investors were assembled to hear reports from the leading companies. Many of the experts suspected that the news was not good. But the Wal-Mart Stores discount chain announced that sales were up sharply in September. The chairman of Toys "R" Us declared that though this was a slow period, he was excited about the Christmas season. True to Gap tradition, Chairman Fisher refused...
What could account for such a collapse? Some factors were plaguing the entire retail industry. A hot summer and late Labor Day meant that the normal back-to-school spending sprees never really revved up. Some shoppers, it seems, were just not sure what they wanted to buy. Many were wondering, for example, if the miniskirt was really back. Once inventories piled up, stores had to cut prices to keep their merchandise moving. That depressed earnings. The Limited's stock price dropped 27% over the past month, and the Dress Barn was down...
...Decorating Den has accelerated from 100 vans in 1984 to more than 600 franchised van drivers today. The Georgia-based TransDesigns, which sells its own product lines of rugs, drapes and fine-arts objects, has grown from 183 decorators in 1975 to 32,000 decorators and $31 million in retail sales last year...