retail stores

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Bankrupt Mervyn's Goes Belly Up
Bankrupt Mervyn's Goes Belly Up
Oct 18, 2008 6:39 AM CDT

Bankrupt Mervyn's Goes Belly Up

All of chain's 149 stores to be liquidated before end of year

(Newser) - Mervyn's will be closing all of its 149 stores before the end of the year and holding huge going-out-of business sales, the Bay Area's Daily Review reports. The California-based department store chain filed for bankruptcy in July and had been fruitlessly scrambling for a sale or a deal with landlords...

For Retail Workers, Big Bro Is Tracking

Computer systems help max productivity, cut costs

(Newser) - As a sluggish economy pinches retailers, many are now turning to computer programs to track employee productivity, the Wall Street Journal reports. At Ann Taylor stores, a computer system calculates average sales per hour, units sold, and dollars per transaction —then automatically schedules the best workers during the store’...

Consumers Are Quickly Trading Down
Consumers
Are Quickly Trading Down
Jul 11, 2008 12:26 PM CDT

Consumers Are Quickly Trading Down

Switch to cheaper goods is broadest since early '80s

(Newser) - As fuel prices and home foreclosures steadily rise, Americans are trading down in everything from automobiles to their lunch options. That's not unusual in an economic downturn, but the speed with which it's happening is, the Wall Street Journal reports. And the flight to the affordable and generic is affecting...

Former Retail Workers Stuck in Folding Mode

Gap-style training creates a generation of neat freaks

(Newser) - Countless current and former retail workers have an obsessive urge to fold clothes ironed into their brains, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Gap started the trend for tightly folded displays in the '80s and rivals quickly followed suit. A whole generation of retail alumni spent thousands of hours folding...

Retailers Checking Out as Economy Falters

Each default brings widespread fallout

(Newser) - Stores across the country are closing their doors, the New York Times reports, victims of a downturn in consumer spending. Retailers are often heavily leveraged, and as the economy falters banks are tightening credit. Several chains, including Sharper Image, have declared bankruptcy; others like Footlocker, Ann Taylor, and Zales are...

Linens 'n Things to Go Bust
Linens 'n
Things to
Go Bust
Apr 11, 2008 6:50 AM CDT

Linens 'n Things to Go Bust

Home-furnishings giant may be first retail victim of market crisis

(Newser) - Linens ‘n Things ls expected to file for Chapter 11 by Tuesday, the deadline for a $15-million quarterly debt payment, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move would make the home-furnishings giant the first major retailer sunk by the housing crisis, after bloated debt and plummeting demand handed the...

Shops Shut as Wind Goes Out of Sales

Store closings rise along with gas prices, foreclosures

(Newser) - Soaring gas prices and a still-boiling housing crisis are taking their toll on America's smaller retailers, with store bankruptcies and vacancy rates rising steadily as customers avoid impulse-buys that once fueled the industry's rapid expansion, reports AP. Vacancies hover between 7% and 8%, up from 5% just six months ago—...

Wal-Mart Gets Halal Makeover
Wal-Mart Gets Halal Makeover
Mar 4, 2008 2:57 AM CST

Wal-Mart Gets Halal Makeover

Execs confer with Arab community to open Mideast-themed Michigan megastore

(Newser) - Tahini, olives and frozen falafel line the shelves in a new Michigan Wal-Mart in Dearborn that caters to local customers: in this case, the nation's largest Arab-American community. The 200,000-square-foot megastore, which opens today, even has a section for Halal meats culled in accordance with Islamic law, Newsweek reports.

Sex Aids' Shelf Space, Sales Grow
Sex Aids'
Shelf Space, Sales Grow
Feb 15, 2008 2:25 PM CST

Sex Aids' Shelf Space, Sales Grow

Wal-Mart, other major chains aren't hiding lubricants and the like

(Newser) - Be careful letting your kids wander in Wal-Mart—the retail giant and other mainstream stores are devoting more shelf space to sex aids, Newsweek reports, and they aren’t hiding it. Lubricants, oils and even vibrators are increasingly appearing next to contraceptives and pregnancy tests. “Even the more conservative...

States, Sellers Drooling Over Gift Card Sales

Retailers add revenue when they're used, but states want their share

(Newser) - After enduring tepid holiday sales, retailers are happily awaiting $8 billion from shoppers with unused gift cards—because only then can sellers claim the added revenue, BusinessWeek reports. But some US states say that their unclaimed-property laws enable them to extract a piece of the left-over card pie. What's really...

Sears Plans Reorganization to Revitalize Biz

Sagging fortunes since 2005 merger with Kmart prompts a shakeup

(Newser) - Foundering retailer Sears is hoping yet another change of course can help it sail out of its financial doldrums after watching its stock value drop in half this year and warning investors fourth-quarter earnings would plummet 57% from a year ago, reports the Wall Street Journal. Chairman Edward Lampert plans...

CompUSA to Close After Xmas
CompUSA to Close After Xmas
Dec 8, 2007 6:28 AM CST

CompUSA to Close After Xmas

All stores to close after the holidays

(Newser) - CompUSA has been sold to a restructuring company and will be ending retail operations after the holidays, AP reports. The troubled electronics retailer, bought by Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim in 1999, closed more than half its outlets in the spring after repeated  turnaround efforts failed. Gordon Brothers Group will...

Retailers Put Brakes on Expansion
Retailers
Put Brakes
on Expansion
Dec 7, 2007 2:15 PM CST

Retailers Put Brakes on Expansion

As economy lags, big chains open fewer stores

(Newser) - America's biggest retailers are beginning to ease up on the construction of new stores, reversing the if-we-build-it-they-will-come trend of recent years, CNNMoney reports. Faced with decreasing sales in a slowing economy, chains such as Wal-Mart, Target, Starbucks, McDonald's, and Walgreen either have cut back on new stores or are considering...

Stores Expose Customer Credit Card, Personal Data to Hackers

Major retailers neglect anti-theft encryption

(Newser) - Major US and European retailers routinely transmit sensitive data, including customer credit card and Social Security numbers, over wireless networks wide open to hackers. A recent undercover study by a wireless data security firm found half of stores in major shopping areas either exchanged data without anti-hacking encryption or used...

Child 'Slave' Laborers Fall Into the Gap

Kids seen making Gap garments in New Delhi sweatshop

(Newser) - Ten-year-olds were found stitching Gap apparel in a filthy New Delhi sweatshop, some without pay, in an investigation by the Guardian. The kids interviewed by the paper reported long hours of unpaid work, threats and beatings. Serial numbers on the beaded blouses they were working on were ID'd by the...

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