Store Closing, Bankruptcies Loom as Retail Bounces Back from Horrible Holiday Sales

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via Bloomberg

Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. retailers face a wave of store closings, bankruptcies and takeovers starting next month as holiday sales are shaping up to be the worst in 40 years.

Retailers may close 73,000 stores in the first half of 2009, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Talbots Inc. and Sears Holdings Corp. are among chains shuttering underperforming locations.

More than a dozen retailers, including Circuit City Stores Inc., Linens ‘n Things Inc., Sharper Image Corp. and Steve & Barry’s LLC, have sought bankruptcy protection this year as the credit squeeze and recession drained sales. Investors will start seeing a wide variety of chains seeking bankruptcy protection in February when they file financial reports, said Burt Flickinger.

“You’ll see department stores, specialty stores, discount stores, grocery stores, drugstores, major chains either multi- regionally or nationally go out,” Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a retail-industry consulting firm in New York, said today in a Bloomberg Radio interview. “There are a number that are real causes for concern.”

Sales at stores open at least a year probably dropped as much as 2 percent in November and December, the ICSC said last week, more than the previously projected 1 percent decline. That would be the largest drop since at least 1969, when the New York-based trade group started tracking data. Gap Inc. and Macy’s Inc. are among retailers that will report December results on Jan. 8. Continue reading →

Walmart Publicly Confirms iPhone Sales, $197 Price

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via Ars Technica

Rumors had been flying for months that retail juggernaut Walmart would be selling iPhones in its US stores. That rumor had all but been confirmed when leaked memos revealed that sales would begin on December 28. Today, Walmart officially confirmed that Sunday, December 28 was the day that sales of Apple’s iconic smartphone would begin. walmart_iphone_price

Walmart will sell the 8GB iPhone for $197, and 16GB models will sell for $297. All phones will still require a two-year contract with AT&T. “We are delighted to bring customers this ground-breaking mobile technology,” Gary Severson, Walmart’s senior vice president of entertainment, said in a statement. “Our electronics associates have been preparing for many weeks for the arrival of iPhone 3G. We are excited to now help new customers learn more about the features and services that make the iPhone unique.”

Though it had been rumored that Walmart would sell a 4GB iPhone for $99 (though, oddly, not for $97), the company’s announcement makes no mention of that model or any other model at a lower price point. Continue reading →

NAME YOUR PRICE: Shoppers Haggle for Deals from Desperate Retailers

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via Yahoo

NEW YORK (AP) — If you’re looking for an extra bargain before the holidays, you may only have to ask. With holiday sales shaping up to be the lowest in years, possibly the worst since the industry began annual comparisons in 1969, retailers say they’re taking consumers’ demands for good deals seriously. Some are extending return policies, while others are matching competitors’ prices. Many are volunteering on-the-spot discounts and even letting customers haggle prices well down from what’s marked in a desperate bid to make the cash register ring.

You’d have to be a moron not to ask for a discount,” said Stephen Hoch, a retailing expert at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

More and more consumers are doing just that, treating a trip to the mall like a visit to the used car lot.

Allen Chen, a part-time cashier at a J. Crew store in White Plains, N.Y., said shoppers with two-month-old receipts are asking for partial refunds for items now on sale. Normally, the store’s policy is to refund the difference between an item’s purchase price and a later sale price only if it goes on sale within seven days of the purchase. Continue reading →