American companies have a curious habit of running up massive debts while the executives of the companies pay themselves millions of dollars in bonuses. I guess it can only work for so long with retail companies.

Payless shoe stores plans to close 2,100 U.S. locations

NEW YORK— Payless ShoeSource is shuttering all of its 2,100 remaining stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, joining a list of iconic names like Toys R Us and Bon-Ton that have closed down in the last year. The Topeka, Kansas-based chain said Friday it will hold liquidation sales starting Sunday and wind down its e-commerce operations. All of the stores will remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May.

The debt-burdened chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2017, closing hundreds of stores as part of its reorganization. At the time, it had over 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries. It remerged from restructuring four months later with about 3,500 stores and eliminated more than $435 million in debt.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/payless-shoe-stores-plans-close-2-100-u-s-locations-n972366

Retail apocalypse? JCPenney, Payless, LifeWay announce 3,000+ combined store closures

More than 41,000 people have lost their jobs in the retail industry so far this year — a 92 percent spike in layoffs since the same time last year, according to a new report. And the layoffs continue to mount, with JCPenney announcing this week it would be closing 18 stores in addition to three previously announced closures, as part of a “standard annual review.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/retail-apocalypse-jcpenney-payless-lifeway-announce-3-000-combined-store-n988756

Walmart is quietly closing stores — here's the full list

Walmart is closing at least 11 US stores across eight states. The closing stores include one Walmart Supercenter in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Walmart Neighborhood Market stores in Arizona, California, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.

The closing date for most of the affected stores is April 19, according to employees of those stores, who confirmed the closings to Business Insider.

https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-stores-closing-list-2019-3

Welcome to Amazon Hell on Earth ! :)

Whole Foods cuts workers' hours after Amazon introduces minimum wage

The Illinois-based worker explained that once the $15 minimum wage was enacted, part-time employee hours at their store were cut from an average of 30 to 21 hours a week, and full-time employees saw average hours reduced from 37.5 hours to 34.5 hours. The worker provided schedules from 1 November to the end of January 2019, showing hours for workers in their department significantly decreased as the department’s percentage of the entire store labor budget stayed relatively the same.

“We just have to work faster to meet the same goals in less time,” the worker said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/06/whole-foods-amazon-cuts-minimum-wage-workers-hours-changes

The UK commercial property market has found itself at the centre of the storm affecting high streets and shopping centers. Online shopping, high costs for retailers, outdated buildings and high debt levels have sent prices and rents plunging for landlords, as well as pushing well-known names such as Debenhams and House of Fraser to the point of collapse.

“The UK is ground zero. That’s where you have the greatest [level] of online sales as a proportion of total sales, and between that and the reality that occupation costs for retailers were particularly high in the UK, you’ve got the perfect recipe for significant retail disruption”.

Rents agreed in UK shopping centers in the first quarter of 2019 dropped by a third compared with last year — using a measure that takes account of concessions such as rent-free periods — according to the estate agents Savills. In some of the worst affected centers, they plunged by 40 to 60 per cent in just three months.

In Europe, vacancy rates are rising across the retail sector, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. In the US, retailers have announced more than 6,900 store closures so far this year, more than in the whole of 2018

New bad records, also mostly from retails fast shrinking

Coresight Research predicts that 15,000 U.S. stores will permanently close this year, setting a new record and nearly doubling its earlier forecast of 8,000 store closings.

‘Retail has hung a closed sign on the door literally and metaphorically,’ Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said.

Now is the time of year when Macy's should be readying its summer collections. Instead, it's busy raising billions of dollars to keep itself afloat, banking sources told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The famous chain furloughed the majority of its 130,000 employees in March after closing all its stores, freezing new hires and canceling orders.

"We have lost the majority of our sales due to the store closures," said the company, which also owns the Bloomingdales and Bluemercury brands.

Ratings agency S&P Global downgraded Macy's this month, saying it expected lower sales demand and fewer in-store customers even when social distancing policies are relaxed.

JCPenney and Nordstrom are in similar trouble. Analysts at investment bank Cowen think their finances can only last them another eight months.

Kohl's can only survive another five months, Cowen said, while Lord & Taylor is already exploring restructuring.

The first to fall could be luxury department store Neiman Marcus.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200429-virus-pushes-iconic-american-department-stores-to-the-brink

Victoria’s Secret plans to permanently close approximately 250 stores in the U.S. and Canada in 2020, its parent company L Brands announced Wednesday.

L Brands also plans to permanently close 50 Bath & Body Works stores in the U.S. and one in Canada, according to information the company posted online as part of its quarterly earnings.

The report, commissioned by Coresight Research, forecasts that in 2020, upwards of 25,000 retailers could shutter operations after months of lockdowns decimated mall traffic -- collapsing store sales and resulting in delinquent rent payments.

2020 list by Forbes

• Chuck E Cheese: 54 U.S. stores (bankruptcy)
• Destination Maternity: 90 stores (bankruptcy)
• GNC: 1,200 stores (bankruptcy)
• J. Crew: 54 stores (bankruptcy)
• JCPenney JCP: 154 stores (bankruptcy)
• K-Mart: 45 stores (bankruptcy)
• Modell’s Sporting Goods: 153 stores (bankruptcy)
• Neiman Marcus (Last Call): 20 stores (bankruptcy)
• Papyrus: 254 stores (bankruptcy)
• Pier 1 Imports PIR: 936 stores (bankruptcy)
• Sears: 51 stores (bankruptcy)
• Signet Jewelers SIG: 232 stores
• Stage Stores: 738 stores (liquidating)
• Tuesday Morning: 230 stores (bankruptcy)
• AC Moore: 145 stores
• Art Van Furniture: 190 stores
• AT&T: 250 stores
• Bath & Body Works: 50 stores
• Bed Bath & Beyond: 44 stores
• Bloomingdale’s: 1 store
• Bose: 11 stores
• Chico: 100 stores (estimated)
• Children’s Place: 200 stores
• Christopher Banks: 30-40 stores
• CVS Pharmacy: 22 stores
• Earth Fare: 50 stores
• Express: 66 stories
• Forever 21: 15 stores (estimated)
• GameStop GME: 320 stores
• Gap: 230 stores
• Guess: 100 stores
• Hallmark: 16 stores
• Lord & Taylor: 30 or 40 stores
• Lowe’s Canada: 34 stores
• Lucky Market: 32 stores
• Macy’s M: 125 stores (over 3 years)
• Microsoft: 77 stores
• New York & Co: 27 stores
• Nordstrom: 16 stores
• Office Depot: 90 stores
• Olympia Sports: 76 stores
• Party City: 21 stores
• Starbucks SBUX: 400 stores (over 18 months)
• Victoria’s Secret: 250 stores
• Walgreen: 100 stores (estimated)
• Walmart: 2 stores
• Wilson Leather & G.H. Bass: 199 stores
• Zara: 1,000 stores worldwide (over 2 years)

@robertGL....fema camps, re-indoctrination centers, gulags of every variety