store closings: April 2009 Archives

In a cost-cutting maneuver, Jones Apparel is closing 225 stores nationwide. The company, which sells women's apparel in a range of brands, did not specify the closings, and forecast them over an 18-month period. Jones plans on continuing its new-brand growth while simultaneously working to cut costs.

The economic downturn is hitting local stores especially hard. Saddest among those affected are the decades-old establishments suddenly facing bankruptcy or liquidation. Recent news affects a pair of stores with particularly long histories:

• Up in Troy, N.Y., residents are girding for life without a hardware store, as Trojan Hardware is closing up shop. Trojan, the last hardware store in town, has been operating since 1915 and occupied a site that has sold hardware since the Civil War.
• And in Dallas, Siegel's liquor store, which has touted a famous neon sign since the 1950s, is closing after 50 years in business. (Timely Demise notes with a smirk that the sign seems to be more lamented than the store itself.)

All locations of sports card and memorabilia store BC Sports have closed for good. The chain had more than 50 stores across 12 eastern states as recently as last week. BC Sports' parent company filed for bankruptcy last fall, and announced plans to close roughly a quarter of its stores, but the entire chain has shut down instead.

A-Boy Supply, a plumbing and hardware retailer in and around Portland, Washington, is closing four of its six locations in June. The company cites general profitability concerns as the driver of the closings. A-Boy has been in business since 1960 and once had as many as nine locations.

Five of the six Ethel's Chocolate Lounges are closing by the end of April. The high-end chocolate store and "hangout," an experiment from confectionary giant Mars Inc., has been operating in the Chicago area since 2006. Ethel's chocolates will continue to be available online, and its eight Las Vegas stores remain open.

The economic downturn is hitting local stores especially hard. Saddest among those affected are the decades-old establishments suddenly facing bankruptcy or liquidation. Recent news affects regional chains with long histories:

• In Charleston, Luden's is closing its doors. As its website states, "established in 1867 as a ship's chandler, J.J.W. Luden's is the oldest retail establishment in Charleston." Its owners cited an expiring lease as the main factor in the decision to close, along with economic conditions. (Timely Demise finds this odd--Luden's surely endured many other expired leases and tough years over the past 142 years.)
• Specialty retailer The End Result in State College, Pa. is closing after 38 years. Downtown State College has seen numerous retailers depart in recent months, like many town centers, although its economy is buoyed somewhat by Penn State students.

In New York, old-world gourmet retailer Balducci's is closing both its locations by the end of April. The grocery store, which dates back 63 years to the Greenwich Village, gave up its original location in 2003. Balducci's has since expanded to eight locations throught the northeast, none of which have been reported as slated to close.

In response to poor corporate performance, Rite Aid is closing up to 117 stores in a cost-cutting maneuver. The pharmacy and grocery chain will eliminate underperforming stores and locations with another Rite Aid nearby.

This news isn't all that drastic: Rite Aid has 4,874 locations nationwide, so the 117 store closings are not an abnormal number. But the closings' announcement in association with stock performance may underscore the effect the economic slowdown is having on sales.

Wholesale retailer Costco has decided to close its Costco Home stores in a reaction to the lagging economy. Home furnishings has been an underperforming market and the company has shifted away from this expansion strategy.

Costco Home only has two outlets, in Tempe and in Kirkland, Washington. The Costco Home conclusion does not affect Costco's 554 warehouse locations.

Amid a "bleak book environment," Borders is planning on closing most of its Waldenbooks locations to cut its corporate costs. The company, which had been stratetgically closing Waldenbooks stores since 2007, is now moving toward a drastic reduction--as much as 80 percent of the current total.

Waldenbooks will have 50 to 60 doors when the closings are complete, down from 300 today, and 564 as recently as 2007. Borders stores are concentrating on high-volume areas, like children's and health and wellness books, while aggressively cutting costs.

After a long bidding battle, the Gottschalk's department store chain will be liquidated and all 58 stores will close. Gottschalk's filed for bankruptcy in January and explored a sale and other options before resorting to the liquidation. The action ends a 105-year-old California-based business; the stores will be closed by July.