So have you seen one of these signs lately?
Store closing seems when
you look at the headlines,
big box retailers are filing for
bankruptcy or just simply closing down.
Let's dig into it.
Despite the headlines,
the experts say retail shopping
in stores is actually thriving.
We're seeing actually fewer bankruptcies.
The issue for retail is that any
time you have a big name retailr
declared Chapter 11 or Chapter ,
it gets a lot of media attentio.
Of course it does.
One of those stores filing for
bankruptcy and making headlines?
Bed Bath and Beyond.
The stores will not close right away,
but there are some dates that
you do need to know about.
Final sales started at
the stores on Wednesday.
Wednesday is also the last day
that coupons will be accepted.
Gift cards can be used through May the 8th.
You can use any store
credit until May the 15th.
You can make returns or exchanges on any
items already purchased until May the 24th.
Now, if you happen to have a registry open,
they are working on partnering with another
company to transfer those registries.
Recently,
Sears announced that it would ce
its last store in North Carolin.
The final sale at the Friendly
Center store is underway right .
Sears was a once considered an institution,
but financial problems started back in 2018.
The retailer filed for bankrupty
and closed around 150 locations,
including the store at Hanes Ma.
The friendly location survived t
round of Closings, but just last
week the store closing sign wen.
A final closing date has not been announced.
Well, the news of Sears closingt
a whole lot of reaction online,
with many people sharing their
memories about shopping at the store.
Barbara says this was my first credit
card and says she got her first vacuum
cleaner and sewing machine there in 1979.
Robert said.
I remember as a child going to
the old Sears at Christmas time.
I love to watch the electric trains run.
Don't forget those catalogs.
And Jason said Sears was a great
part of my childhood.
Loved going there when
my folks went shopping.
David's Bridal is another natiol
retailer who announced its
bankruptcy filing this month.
So can you still say yes to the dress?
Well, let's verify.
David's Bridal filed for bankruy
protection for the second time in five years.
The announcement comes just days
after the company said it plans
to eliminate more than 9000 U.S.
jobs this year, and that has
verified viewers curious if the
company is still selling dresse.
So let's verify, can you still get your
dress order fulfilled at David's Bridal?
Our sources are court documents,
David's Bridal and Laura McKeev,
senior manager of Brand, PR,
Philanthropy and communications
for David's Bridal.
Court documents show David's Bridal filed
for bankruptcy protection on April 16th,
but the company says it's in the process
of looking for a buyer who can continue
to operate the business going forward.
In the meantime,
Laura McKeever,
a spokesperson for David's Brid,
says the company is still fulfilling new and
existing dress orders in store and online,
and that the company plans to
fulfill those orders on time.
So we can verify, yes,
you can still get your dress orr
fulfilled at David's Bridal,
despite the recent bankruptcy filing.
The company says it is also stil
currently honoring gift cards,
exchanges and returns with your
fast fact I'm Adion day till
you know it's not just big natil
chains facing tough business decisions.
Omega Sports, a popular North Carolina
sports store, announced it was closing
down due to inflation and supply
chain issues. Final sales are
running at the stores right now.
They expect to be open until early summer.
It's easy to see why it may soud
like all retailers are struggli,
especially those with
brick and mortar stores,
the National Retail Federation .
Really, it's the opposite.
There are more stores
opening now than before,
in part because people are shop.
What we saw during the pandemic
was a a big shift away from
services towards goods, right.
So people stopped going on holi,
You know, they stopped eating o,
they stopped going to concerts d
they spent that money on goods.
They spent it on retail.
So, you know, retail has perfor,
you know, particularly strongly
throughout the last few years,
as I mentioned, $1.5 trillion in
growth in the last two years al.
So far this year we've
seen about 2700 stores.
Versus 1800 closed.
So as in, you know,
every year that we've seen in recent times,
we're seeing more stores open than closed,
which is why we have such high levels.
What tends to happen though is people
focus on those store closures,
especially when there's a
bankruptcy attached to them and
they're not focusing on the stoe
opening numbers and then those
continue to run at a high rate.
All right. Just in case you missed it,
so far this year,
2700 new stores have opened up that is
compared to just 1800, which cl.
So really when you're doing the math,
there are about 900 new stores and new
options to shop compared to just last year.
When you think about shopping in store,
it may look a little different these days,
it may even start with you
placing the order online.
When you think about ecommerce,
some of the areas that are fastt
growing are things like buy onl,
pickup in store and curbside pi.
So the store plays an important
role in some of the digital come
that we're seeing these days.
And you know, often times when we order
stuff online it may be delivered to us
from the store as opposed to a warehouse.
So you know, it's important to remember
that you know we're seeing you ,
much more blended commerce now d
stores play an important role in that.
All right, so let's talk
about some store opening news.
In the past year, lots of new ss
have opened at the Friendly Cen.
The retail federation says openr
shopping centers like the Frieny
Center are very popular right n.
In the past year,
Friendly says 8 new retailers have opened.
They're gearing up for a few moe
openings in the coming months,
including stores like Warby Parr
and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
The sneaker company Footlocker is also
looking to change the way it dos
business and appeal to more consumers.
Instead of focusing just on mall locations,
they plan to open new store cons
and communities where buying
sneakers is a big draw.
Right now,
mall stores only bring in about 10% of sales,
so Footlocker will close 400 current stores,
but they're going to open
250 new concept stores.
Furniture market IKEA is
also looking to expand.
The company announced it wants
to open 17 new stores across
parts of the southern US Now,
IKEA has not said where the
new stores will go just yet,
but they will add to the 51 stos
currently open here in the United States.