Cramer has finally given up on the retail landscape, following $EL warning that their department business was woefully impaired. Then he dove into idle speculation about $M being an acquisition target for its real estate holdings. Hmm, where have I heard this thesis laid bare before? Perhaps over at olde K-mart?
Trump’s border tax is bound to wreak a new and fresh havoc on retail too, Cramer decried — since most of them import their crap from overseas.
The core issue with these retailers is they overbuilt. Think about it. In every strip mall, in every small town in America, lies a slew of stores. Each town has a shopping mall, brimming with desperate retailers desperate for your dollars. With the advent of Amazon, coupled with a younger generation of people who are happy owning a few bedraggled t-shirts to comprise their wardrobe, the retailers have fallen victim to the oldest and most cardinal sin of oversupplying a market that isn’t growing all that much.
Courtesy of Exodus, here are the biggest losers in retail over the past year.
Some believe at least a third of US based malls will close, eventually.
“On an apples-to-apples basis, we have twice as much per-capita retail space as any other place in the world,” Kniffen said. “So, yes, we are the most over-stored place in the world.”
The U.S. has an estimated 48 square feet of retail space per citizen—a footprint that’s set to decline “pretty fast,” Kniffen said.
In time, this oversupplied market will recede — casting out the weaker companies — paving the way for a much healthier landscape. But first, there needs to be a culling, a tightening of credit, otherwise the retail industry will continue to plod along in a most heinous manner.
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when Cramer starts to talk down a sector, the bottom isn’t far away, but just not now.
You should just stick with your pointless political posts.
So bitter.
I said this years ago. You walk into these places and all you see is a retarded amount of inventory. who buys all this crap and id they dont where does it go? They could always try to pull a jos a bank though. why the hell not? They are toast anyways might as well kill off china and these third world clothing people before the machines make our clothes that way it would relieve them of their sweatshop duties to pursue better agendas then making clothes for us.
I knew a former DynCorp Big shot who retired with his multimillions and promptly opened a series of mall kiosks employing veterans selling trinkets. It was 100% a tax write off.
Don’t think in terms of who buys this crap. Think in terms of insurance scams and tax deductions. It is not Ma and Pa Blow back in Up Yours, Arkansas who owns all this retail property. Hell, Ahnuld Schwarzenegger owns most of the retail in suburban Columbus Ohio.
Here is the retail experience in 2017.
KSS, M and others mark up their regular prices. Through the store card, rewards cards and coupons, the prices become normal or good deals. They do this to increase loyalty, but there is a flip side. If you do not have all of your paperwork in order for a particular store, you cannot make an impulse purchase.
TGT has become particularly confusing shopping experience. They have a weekly ad where the stated prices are what you get at the register. But, they have a target card that gives you 5% off and this ridiculous cartwheel app. You have to dig through this app to figure out if there are opt-in deals for what you are buying. The cartwheel deals are $ off, % off or a free gift card under certain conditions. If you go in to a TGT nowadays, people are scrolling through the cartwheel app, rather than shopping.
And, most of these retailers have not figured out in store pick up. Despite already paying for the item and getting an email saying they have it ready, you can never just pick it up and go. Wait in the customer service line and wait for them to find the item..
Shopping at many traditional brick and mortar retailers is incredibly frustrating right now.
Malls and traditional retailer are not dead, but the retailers that perpetuate a difficult shopping experience will certainly die.
My wife the barbarian shopper ( extra Conan) just flat out loves KSS. I have to say they must love her too from the volume of correspondence she receives from that company.
She literally raves about their return/exchange policies, which seem to be, “make the customer happy”.
Kohl’s cash, Kohl’s 30% off card, Kohl’s this , that, and the other thing are part of the daily vernacular around the Heaterman domicile.
I swear when she swipes her Kohl’s card a red light flashes and sirens wail in corporate HQ, champagne is poured and caviar is brought to every office.
TGT and the rest have nothing like the marketing done by KSS. I think they’ll be safe.
TGT has that nagging issue with a policy regarding those people confused about internal vs external plumbing. Bathrooms and such….
She hasn’t been in one but a handful of times since that transpired.
KSS will be okay if it’s up to her and I think she’s right. A good share of their stores are not in a mall per se’ but are stand alone buildings owned by the corporation. This will be a huge difference down the road as malls close up around the country.