Archive for January 30th, 2008
by David Bodamer January 30th, 2008
Dell Inc. is closing its 140 ‘direct store’ kiosks in the U.S. as it moves to sell its products through retailers like Best Buy Co. (NYSE:BBY) , the computer maker said Wednesday.
The 120-square-foot kiosks, set up at malls and airports around the country, let customers speak with sales representatives about computers, digital cameras, printers and other products. They had room for about 12 products shoppers could touch and feel before they bought them directly from Dell.
The world’s No. 2 computer maker, which built its business on selling PCs directly to customers, has been expanding into retail to better compete with rivals such as No. 1 Hewlett-Packard Co. Besides Best Buy, Dell sells computers at stores such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Staples Inc. in the U.S.
Link.
Related Topics: News, Retail |
by David Bodamer January 30th, 2008
Domain Inc.–which operates 27 stores–filed for bankruptcy on Friday. Meanwhile, Crate & Barrel has made a change at the top.
Gordon Segal, the visionary founder of Crate & Barrel, is relinquishing the CEO post, marking the first time the 46-year-old home furnishing chain will operate without Segal’s daily presence.
Segal is handing off his chief executive title to Barbara Turf, Crate & Barrel’s longtime president, who assumes the post May 1.
The change is expected to test Crate & Barrel’s mettle at a time when the housing market downturn is putting pressure on home goods retailers industrywide.
Segal, 69, will remain chairman and keep an office at the company’s Northbrook headquarters. He plans to serve as a retail ambassador, giving speeches, recruiting at colleges and going abroad to explore opportunities to expand. The chain has annual sales of more than $1.4 billion and 160 stores nationwide but, so far, none outside the U.S. (A store in Toronto is slated to open in September.)
Related Topics: News, Retail, Trends |
by David Bodamer January 30th, 2008
This doesn’t seem good.
The credit crunch could see the commercial mortgage-backed securities market passing an ominous milestone — the first month in its two-decade history without a single issue priced.
None of the $37 billion in issues slated for the first quarter has priced, including Blackstone Group’s $10 billion deal backed by Hilton Hotels and bonds assembled by dealers such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Their absence bodes poorly for the buyout boom that depended on the market for cheap financing, analysts and investors said.
The commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) market has been rocked by the fallout of the mortgage crisis as investors reduce risk appetites for all assets. The market in 2008 has faltered further, pushing yield premiums to record levels, saddling issuers with loan inventories and preventing them from making many new loans.
“If you originated loans in 2007, chances are now you are facing a wider spread environment and it may not make sense economically” to issue bonds, said Alan Todd, head of CMBS research at JPMorgan Chase & Co., a top underwriter. “Also, new originations have been slow” because lenders have not been making new fixed-rate loans, he said.
No demand for floating-rate deals also hurt issuance, said Darrell Wheeler, head of CMBS research at Citigroup Inc.
January appears to be the first month without issuance under the current market format, or since the Resolution Trust Corp stopped issuing CMBS in 1995, he said.
The situation in the CMBS market seems to be deteriorating rapidly. This story follows a couple from late last week. Overall, there was an expectation that CMBS issuance in the U.S. in 2008 could drop to just $100 billion. But I don’t think anyone expected that there would be no issuance at all for the entire month of January.
Related Topics: Finance, News, Trends |
