Archive for July 25th, 2008
by David Bodamer July 25th, 2008
Regional department story chain Boscov’s is the latest retailer experiencing severe troubles, according to recent reports.
Just a couple of years ago Boscov’s looked like a mover in the seemingly ever-troubled department store sector. It bought 10 stores from Macy’s and the 97-year-old company seemed on the road to more expansion. Today, it apparently sits near collapse.
About half of the major suppliers to the 97-year-old, family-owned chain have halted merchandise shipments for lack of payment, sources told The Post.
Additionally, commercial lenders including CIT Group Inc , GMAC and Milberg have stopped guaranteeing deliveries to Boscov’s stores, the paper said citing sources.
Pennsylvania-based Boscov’s, which operates about 50 mid-price stores that sell clothing, appliances, electronics and furniture, is looking for alternatives to a bankruptcy filing, including the closing of up to 10 underperforming stores, The Post said.
Related Topics: Finance, News, Retail, Trends |
by David Bodamer July 25th, 2008
Standard & Poor’s announced the April results of its S&P/GRA Commercial Real Estate Indices. Retail was down 0.2 percent from March to April.
The latest readings:
| Property Type |
April 2008 Index |
April/March Change (%) |
March/February Change (%) |
1-Year Change (%) |
| Apartments |
144.26 |
-2.3% |
0.0% |
5.7% |
| Office |
146.80 |
0.5% |
0.1% |
0.3% |
Retail
| 161.61 |
-0.2 |
0.3% |
2.1% |
|
| Warehouse |
162.23 |
0.2% |
0.9% |
4.8% |
Previous posts on the S&P/GRA Indices can be found from June 18, May 21, April 22, March 18, January 22, January 2, November 28, September 18 and August 21.
Related Topics: Investment, News, Research, Retail Real Estate |
by David Bodamer July 25th, 2008
Wow. I had thought the wholesale clubs and discounters were weathering the economic storm rather well. So Costco’s lowered outlook comes as a shock.
“Factors negatively affecting our fourth quarter earnings outlook arise largely from inflation, particularly as to energy costs,” the chief financial officer, Richard Galanti, said in a statement.
The outlook reflects weakness in the company’s gasoline operations and slightly lower-than-planned merchandise profits as the company holds back on price increases to drive sales.
Mr. Galanti also said a greater-than-anticipated LIFO charge, which refers to the last-in-first-out method that assumes the most recent inventory purchases or goods manufactured are sold first. During times of rising prices, that results in a charge that eliminates inflationary profits from net income.
Related Topics: News, Retail |
by David Bodamer July 25th, 2008
The Back-to-School shopping season has just begun, but that hasn’t stopped some retailers from fretting about the holiday season.
“What word should I use? Terrible? Horrible? Miserable?” said Homi Patel, chairman and chief executive of Hartmarx Corp., a Chicago-based clothing manufacturer of suits and sportswear, when asked to describe the 2008 holiday. “There is a time when the consumer isn’t going to shop. It doesn’t matter if it’s 70 percent off or 80 percent off, the mind-set is, ‘I just don’t want to shop.’ And that’s something we haven’t seen in quite some time.”
With credit harder to come by, homes no longer a source of quick cash, and stock portfolios shrinking, retailers are bracing to duke it out for every dollar this holiday. Merchants are keeping inventories lean to avoid the risk of costly markdowns. And they are making a keen effort to keep prices down.
In a sign of what is ahead, Costco Wholesale Corp., the warehouse club chain that has steadily weathered the economic slowdown, warned Wednesday that profit for the current quarter would be “well below” Wall Street estimates as the company grapples with higher energy costs and holds back on price increases in order to keep customers.
Related Topics: News, Retail, Trends |
Stories With Bigger Implications?
by David Bodamer July 25th, 2008
There’s an interesting story in the Charlotte Observer today about construction on the Bridges at Mint Hill coming to a halt. The project is still early in the process. Workers were grading the site when the project came to a halt. It’s not like work stopped on half-completed buildings or anything.
The reason I find it interesting is because I imagine this is the sort of thing that’s happening all across the country right now. Where work on development can be stopped–before it’s too deep into the construction process–it is being stopped.
The story gets more interesting from there. The town’s mayor told the paper that the mall is, “on hold until the end of the year and could not give a completion date.” The developers, Chicago-based General Growth Properties and Charlotte’s Childress Klein Properties, who refused to comment on the report, allegedly told the mayor “they needed more time to complete planning work before continuing construction.”
That, to me, sounds like a cover for the fact that, frankly, it’s a tough time to be building new shopping centers right now. Retailers are increasingly closing stores or slowing expansion plans. So it’s got to be really difficult to lease up new centers. It would be interesting to know what level of pre-leasing the project has. One anchor is mentioned in the story, Belk. But no other retailers are listed.
I wonder if the problem really isn’t the fact that they don’t have enough tenants to justify continuing construction right now.
Elsewhere in Charlotte, Glimcher Realty Trust is simply giving up on one of its properties.
No Comments Related Topics: Commentary, Development, News, Retail Real Estate |