Word: stores
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...store owners big and small, 'tis the season of sweating brows. U.S. retail sales dropped a record 2.8% last month, just the latest in a string of bad months. By the end of 2008, 148,000 retail establishments will have closed, the largest number since 2001, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. A rough holiday season will produce an additional 73,000 store closings in the first half of 2009, the council predicts. "In the first six months of next year there will be a lot more retail museums than retail stores," says Beemer...
...Regional department-store chains in smaller to midsize cities are already under pressure, but some have an extra heap of woe. Women's retailer Bon-Ton faces a double challenge: softening sales and a mountain of debt resulting from its $1 billion buyout of 142 stores from Saks two years ago. Even powerhouse Dillard's, with stores spread across 29 states, is raising anxiety owing to weakening sales, down 10% for the quarter. In early November, Standard & Poor's lowered its corporate credit rating of Dillard's to B+ from BB-, citing the "deepening spending pull-back by consumers." Adding...
...Other specialty merchants in troubled waters include Talbots, the conservative women's clothing boutique, whose same-store sales plunged 14% in the third quarter. "In their case it might be an overexpansion problem as they got into men's and children's clothing and then made the acquisition of J.Jill, which wasn't smart," says Neil Stern, senior partner at McMillan Doolittle, a Chicago-based retail-consulting firm. That half-billion-dollar acquisition is currently up for sale, but no one is biting. Meanwhile, outdoor-apparel shop Eddie Bauer emerged from bankruptcy in June 2005 with a $450 million bank...
...Still, there are a few bright spots this Christmas season. Urban Outfitters Inc. has distinguished itself with stylish merchandise that stands out, while teen retailers Aéropostale and Buckle have posted positive same-store comparisons by offering good value. Says Davidowitz: "You have to be either really cheap or really different and really right to do well in this market...
...Harvard Book Store] with my father, waiting to go to lunch,” he says. “My father was in conversation, and I wanted to go. Then this guy came up to me and said, ‘Do you have Kant’s ‘Prolegomena?’ It scared the hell...