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After Weak Holiday Sales, Retailers Prepare for Even Worse
If jobs don't come back, prepare for more layoffs and business bankruptcies -- Also watch for more business consolidation, and trend to increasing monopolies and duopolies
If jobs don't come back, prepare for more layoffs and business bankruptcies -- Also watch for more business consolidation, and trend to increasing monopolies and duopolies
Judgment day is at hand for American retailers.
On Thursday, many chains reported the worst holiday shopping season in decades, and the stores are entering the new year so weakened that some might not survive. A wave of corporate failures that has already taken out stores like Sharper Image and Linens ’n Things is expected to grow substantially worse in coming months, sending some of the well-known names of American retailing into bankruptcy.
Thursday’s numbers were, in themselves, no surprise. The weak economy, rising unemployment, winter storms and a dearth of compelling fashions hurt all kinds of retailers in December. On Thursday, many reported double-digit sales declines at stores open at least a year, a measure known as same-store sales and a barometer of retail health.
Industry sales fell 2.2 percent for the holiday shopping season, the biggest decline since at least 1970, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. December sales dropped 1.7 percent on top of even-weaker November sales, when chains posted a 2.7 percent decline, the council said.
Those numbers would be worse except for some huge categories, like food and beverages, on which consumers were less likely to cut back.
While November and December were tough, people at least had a reason to shop in those months. Retailing analysts say the next couple of months may prove to be even more difficult.
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On Thursday, many chains reported the worst holiday shopping season in decades, and the stores are entering the new year so weakened that some might not survive. A wave of corporate failures that has already taken out stores like Sharper Image and Linens ’n Things is expected to grow substantially worse in coming months, sending some of the well-known names of American retailing into bankruptcy.
Thursday’s numbers were, in themselves, no surprise. The weak economy, rising unemployment, winter storms and a dearth of compelling fashions hurt all kinds of retailers in December. On Thursday, many reported double-digit sales declines at stores open at least a year, a measure known as same-store sales and a barometer of retail health.
Industry sales fell 2.2 percent for the holiday shopping season, the biggest decline since at least 1970, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. December sales dropped 1.7 percent on top of even-weaker November sales, when chains posted a 2.7 percent decline, the council said.
Those numbers would be worse except for some huge categories, like food and beverages, on which consumers were less likely to cut back.
While November and December were tough, people at least had a reason to shop in those months. Retailing analysts say the next couple of months may prove to be even more difficult.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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