Tuesday, November 18, 2008

FW: email -- true or false?

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I just got an email from my pal Niki here at work, listing a bunch of retail outlets that supposedly "informed the Security Exchange of closing plans between Oct 2008 and Jan 2009."

I wonder if any of these is really true. (I also wonder what the hell the "Security Exchange" is, but whatev.)

Here's the list, along with my inevitable comments:
Circuit City stores... most recent (? how many)--wouldn't be surprised here.
Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide are to be shuttered--never shopped there.
Lane Bryant,, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine's to close 150 store nationwide--never shopped at any of these--too much "girly clothes"
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January--interesting. What about Abercrombie and Fitch?
Cache will close all stores--huh?
Talbots closing down all stores--bought an interview suit there once. Kinda pricey.
J. Jill closing all stores--never heard of it. Sounds girly.
GAP closing 85 stores--at least they stopped those annoying commercials
Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January --really? But doesn't everyone need shoes?
Wickes Furniture closing down--not a surprise.
Levitz closing down remaining stores--again, not a surprise. Who can afford big furniture?
Bombay closing remaining stores--these guys (Pier 1) have been circling the drain forever.
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January--a bit of a surprise, seeing as how people are always getting married. But hey--it's probably teh gays' fault!
Whitehall closing all stores--isn't this another jeweler? Interesting.
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores--ouch! (kidding--does anyone really go there, besides teen girls?)
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January--but where will nerdy older women buy their overpriced Eeyore sweatshirts!??
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ (New Brunswick)--now this is a surprise. I mean, it's cheaper to do stuff yourself. Maybe it's because everyone's renting after being foreclosed on?
Macys to close 9 stores after January -- the one here is waaay overpriced.
Linens and Things closing all stores --wow. Perhaps beaten in that market by Bed, Bath, and Beyond?
Movie Galley Closing all stores --no surprise. An Internet casualty, I think.
Pacific Sunware closing stores --never shopped there.
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores --Manny! Moe! Jack! Say it ain't so!
Sprint/ Nextel closing 133 stores -- I always thought live phone stores were stupid. Doesn't everyone just get them online?
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January --surprising. Is this because more people are shopping for clothes at thrift stores?
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores. --not a surprise AT ALL. Way overpriced furniture.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores --they'll probably just stay open online.
Sharper Image closing down all stores --who can afford wacky "unique" gifts like these?
K B Toys closing 356 stores --NOOOO!!!!!!! I love that store!
Loews to close down some stores --here again, like with Home Depot--not enough homeowners anymore?
Dillard's to close some stores--that's sad. I always kinda liked that store when I was a label-conscious '80s teen in South Texas.

So has anyone else heard anything like this? Even if it's bullshit, I'm sure that announcements like these are be pondered in almost every boardroom in America.

11 comments:

Joe said...

If it's like the email I got, it's mostly true. It's flying around now--here's a link to the Snopes.com page on the email:

Store Closings

Jess Wundrun said...

I spent time with a relative over the weekend who works at Talbot's. She said that Talbot's who own J. Jill(--which is a lot of linen clothes, think rich and deconstructed), would not have J. Jill on their books after the last quarter of '08. So, from what she said, I believe Talbot's will be around but J.Jill will not. Then again, she just works retail, she's not in the office end of things.

Sorghum Crow said...

I'd not seen the canonical list, but I recognize a lot of the names and stories. Probably more true than not.

Matthew Hubbard said...

Wow, a mostly true chain e-mail. Things really are changing under the Obama administration. ;^]

Elizabeth said...

Good gawd. I've never seen this, but somehow, it doesn't surprise me.

Mr.OM and I were in the local mall on Sunday, and a cheesy jewelry store had no fewer than eight signs displaying 60% off. And everything in there was already super-cheap.

Anonymous said...

Well, I hate it for all those who will lose their jobs, but this house of credit cards economy of our was bound to collapse. I predict that a lot of people will run up their credit cards to keep up the pretense that all is well over Christmas. Then, after the holidays, the credit card companies are going to hit them with reduced credit limits and all the extra fees for going over limit and higher interest rates, etc.

Wow - am I cheerful or what?

I didn't see my favorite thrift store on the list, so that's good news, I guess.

Randal Graves said...

KB Toys still exists?

Unknown said...

I have read in the media that most, if not all of those companies are tanking bad.

Whether they are closing up shop permanently, I do not know.

Karen Zipdrive said...

I buy most of my work clothes on sale from Talbot's and Macy's because they make stuff that lasts.
Stores that sell trendy crap and useless doodads won't last and places like Circuit City hired a lot of lazy employees on the cheap, so customer service was for shit.
I went there once to buy a computer but couldn't find anyone to wait on me.

Whiskeymarie said...

Looking at the names on the list, it doesn't surprise me that many of them are closing.
The boom is over, there are bound to be casualties.

I do most of my shopping online these days anyways.

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