Subscribe to this Blog


Subscribe Via Email

Enter your email address:

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Business Closings

Earlier today I wrote an article regarding all of the businesses that had announced various closings all across the United States, but neglected to stress the impact this would have on the economy as a whole. I have spent some time thinking about the impact of all those store closings. Granted, some of the stores that are shutting down are small and will likely only release 20-30 people into the ranks of the unemployed, but some of the retail establishments that I mentioned employ hundreds and could be devastating to small cities and towns across the nation.
I recently moved from Manchester, NH to Austin, TX. When I was living in Manchester I worked at a party supply store on South Willow St. as an assistant manager. While working on that street I took some time and got to know a lot of the employees of all the stores that surrounded mine and came to realize that many of those stores would likely go out of business if the nation headed further into recession. Unfortunately, shortly after I received that email I mentioned in the article earlier today, I was contacted by a former coworker who told me that nearly every plaza on the street had 2-3 businesses that would be out of business by the new year. 
In addition to that awful news, my mother in-law just told my wife and I that the Mall of New Hampshire also had a number of stores closing including The Gap, JC Penney, KB Toys and a number of others. As I mentioned earlier, the closings aren't due to a poor business model or bad management decisions. The stores are closing due to the fact that consumers are getting pinched from al sides and don't know whether they will have a job in the near future. You cannot blame anyone for holding onto their money in times like this. I will be interested to see if the banks begin lending again in the near future so that the economy can hiccup its way along. I suspect we are just getting into the beginning of our woes here. It will be "interesting: to see just where things go in 2009.

Business Website Design

Many businesses have been redesigning there online store fronts and online presence since the economy has gone in the tank and have been seeing mixed results. Granted, many consumers have "packed it in" in regards to making excess purchases, but savvy business owners know that by updating and streamlining their web presence that increased traffic may lead to increased sales.
There are a number of great resources for online businesses in the marketplace right now regarding business website design, business web hosting services as well as a number of freelance writers looking for assignments who specialize in website content writing. Having said that, many of the aforementioned businesses have not only beefed up their online presence, but have begun employing viral campaigns as well as traditional advertising campaigns in order to generate a buzz and/or traffic to their stores and online store fronts. I realize this is nothing new, but the increase in small business website design volume has gone through the roof. Honestly, I suspect this is due to not only an ailing economy, but the fact that designers and hosting services are lowering there fees and other charges to spur there bottom lines as this year draws to a close.
Regardless of your business model, it is important to maintain several strategies as well as contingency plans so you and your business will be ready for anything that may happen in this down market. I suggest bulking up your online presence by website redesign as well as viral campaigns. 

Business Closings

There is little to no doubt that you have received a comprehensive listing of all of the retail establishments that are being forced to close their doors due to the current economic recession our nation is engulfed in. Having worked in retail for a number of years I have to say that I would be interested to have a look at some of these organizations same store sales and profit and loss reports to see just how terrible they were doing. I mean, you can only get so much information from a forecast.
Anyway, I was amazed to see some of the stores listed in the emails as no longer being viable. Here are a few of the stores listed in the aforementioned email;
  • Ann Taylor closing 117 locations
  • Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 locations
  • Eddie Bauer closing 27 locations
  • Talbots closing all locations
  • Gap closing 85 locations
  • Footlocker closing 140 locations
  • Zales closing 187 locations by January
  • Disney closing 98 locations
  • Home Depot closing 15 locations
  • Linens and Things closing all locations
  • Movie Gallery closing all locations
  • Pacific Sunwear closing all locations
  • Pep Boys closing 33 locations
  • Sprint/Nextel closing 133 locations
  • JC Penney closing undisclosed number of locations
  • KB Toys closing 356 locations
The above list was just some of the big named stores that are closing their doors between now and January! As I mentioned before, having worked in retail management for a number of years I think I can say that this is not good for anybody. Not only will a number of businesses on Main St. be going under, but a lot of quality people will be out of work for the new year. These businesses are not guilty of poor business models or anything in that regard. They are instead victims of the crisis that has started on Wall St. and are likely not to be given any assistance by Washington. It is upsetting to see so many jobs lost between now and January and what is more upsetting is the fact that this information is nowhere to be found on the network news. 

Profit and Loss Report Tips

Operating a business in a down market can be a bit difficult, especially if you are trying to streamline all aspects of your business. There are many ways to watch your bottom line and lessen the burden of streamlining your business in regards to your P&L. Many small business owners have utilized discount wholesalers and the like when ordering supplies, point of sale hardware as well as uniforms when attempting the aforementioned. 
One such company that is assisting businesses in meeting their uniform and accessory needs is iD by Landau. Creators of quality products ranging from hotel uniforms and spa uniforms to various apparel accessories and restaurant uniforms, iD by Landau offers small businesses (and large) a wide variety of inexpensive quality uniform options in this down market. In addition to offering a wide array of stylish uniforms for your employees, iD by Landau offers designs from award wining designers for low cost to you and your bottom line. If you are considering streamlining your business in this regard you should really take a look at this organization, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Your P&L report will thank you.
Friday, November 21, 2008

MS International Stone Distribution Center Opening in Houston

 

image MS International, Inc., a natural stone distribution company, has opened a new distribution center. The new center is located in Houston, Texas. The new center is located on 12 acres of land with 180,000 square feet to hold the distribution center and showroom. The center became fully operational June of 2008.

The location of the new distribution center in Houston allows the company to better serve it's customers in this part of the country. The CEO of MS International states, “with the opening of Houston, MSI will be able to efficiently distribute natural stone products across the important Southwest and Midwest markets. …The new facility will enable MSI to maintain among the largest inventories in the Southwest.”

Gamefly Distribution Center Opening in SouthEast

image A new distribution center is opening in the southeast for Gamefly ( www.gamefly.com ). This new center will help those who are registered with Gamefly to receive their games faster. The new center is located in Tampa, Florida.

Like Blockbuster and Netflix, Gamefly rents out video games. A unique concept with Gamefly is the "keep it" option which allows game users to buy the game they are renting. With this option, once you buy the game, you will be mailed the box and manual it came in that Gamefly keeps stored once the actual disc is removed to be sent as a rental to its customers.

Gamefly has over 5,000 game titles to choose from. You can choose from a wide array of game systems such as PS2 and Xbox among others.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Auto Manufacturers No Bailout?

Ford, Chrysler and GM may not be in the auto manufacturing business for much longer, especially if they aren't the beneficiary of a supplemental government bailout plan congress has been squabbling over for the last week or so. Some may argue that the industry "leaders" who have been in financial trouble for almost my entire life are too "American" to be allowed to fail. Honestly, whether something is done or not, I highly doubt they will be able to compete due to their bowing down to unions and excessive pension plan payouts. Don't get me wrong, I am a supporter of unions and workers rights, but when you are running a huge corporation you need to be able to stand up to those unions to keep yourself in business. 
This morning, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told congress that the 700 Billion dollar bailout plan is not intended to help individual businesses that are not involved in the banking crisis. My thoughts are that they aren't in Paulson's little Goldman Sachs circle so they will not be bailed out. In my opinion, this whole thing stinks. I do agree that the bailout money should be used as prescribed, but when Paulson continues to change the prescription from day to day of course failing businesses and industries will be looking for a handout. This whole thing has been handled so sloppily that it keeps snow-balling into a bigger fiasco by the hour.
It is unclear whether or not President Bush and his administration will allow supplemental money for the auto industry during his last days in office. With the squabbling continuing on the hill between democrats and republicans the auto-makers will likely declare bankruptcy before any decision or legislation is crafted. 
Source: Yahoo News

Despite Ailing Economy Muscle Cars Thrive

Even in these difficult economic times there are some industries that are thriving, and believe it or not American muscle cars are driving into collections all around the country at a rapid pace. We all know the image of the American muscle car. In addition to being stunning pieces of Americana that ooze excess horsepower and command respect on the road, now you can find a wide selection to either buy or gawk at (like I do) on Classic Cars' muscle car classifieds. Whether you are looking to drool, buy or sell, the classified will satisfy you in one way or another. 
In addition to having a wide array of feature cars, the classified also has a dealer showcase that will pull at your heartstrings. After visiting this site, I have a little voice in my head that keeps echoing, "Buy Muscle Car!" Honestly, that voice should be saying, "Hope Someone Sell Muscle Car Cheap!" Seriously though, the site has a lot of cool cars and features that will make your search or "drool session" a lot more directed and easier. I've gone to the site a number of time just to gawk at the cherry red 55 Ford T-Bird, classic! Even if you aren't looking to buy or sell you should definitely check out their muscle cars they are truly impressive. I can only imagine what it must have been like when these cars turned country roads into drag strips.
Friday, November 14, 2008

U.S. Blocks Chinese Milk Products FDA Puts Burden on Importers

milk-tainted Prove you are importing a 'safe' milk related product (and take on the liability of that proof) and the FDA will release your shipment into the United States.  On your mark, get ready, set, go....

Not in such a hurry?  Who can blame you.

The US and the FDA are showing their ineffectuality both in their 100% ban and in pushing the burden not on their own regulators and testers that are too under staffed to make a difference, but to importers of record.

Federal food safety officials yesterday began holding up shipments of food from China that contain milk or milk-derived ingredients in the largest effort to date to keep products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine from reaching U.S. consumers.

The Food and Drug Administration is requiring importers of the halted shipments to test for the chemical, which is used to make plastic and fertilizer but has been added to human and animal food to boost protein readings. The types of products likely to be waylaid are cookies, candies, and other goods made with milk or milk powder.

If an importer can prove his product is not tainted, FDA will release it, said Steve Solomon, the agency's deputy associate commissioner for compliance and policy. The agency also will step up its testing of products already on the market.

U.S. Blocks Chinese Milk Products

The obvious flaw in this action is that there will still be some importers that will route these products through other countries and use false information, documentation or whatever it takes to move their goods, defective or not.

This may block the easy items, but the hard work has yet to be done.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Unemployment Summary Nov. 08

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics released the "Unemployment Situation Summary" this morning and the results were anything but good. Unemployment has risen .4% from 6.1% to 6.5% while payroll employment shed 240,000. The complete summary can be found here.
This is quite alarming and does not show any signs of letting up. It seems as though the federal government is trying to throw everything that they have at the situation and the best that can be done is to slow the decline. Granted, we all expect them to do something, it is just a matter of time before they run out of stuff to throw at this thing. I mean, the Federal Reserve has dropped rates to the point where they are almost out of points to shave. In addition to that, I find that the point drops only stave off the decline for a month or so. I also think that a second stimulus is going to do little to nothing to remedy the situation due to the fact that the first stimulus did little to nothing. I don't know about you, but I just used mine to pay some bills. I don't know anyone who rushed out to buy a new plasma television.
I guess we'll have to wait and see just what happens in the coming months, but many people seem to think that unemployment will reach 8% (during the depression they were around 20% I believe) by April and we all know that wont be good for anyone. 

Orthopedic Clinics Unaffected By Credit Crunch

With the current credit crunch effecting a number of businesses and business models nationwide, there have been few that remain unaffected. One such industry is Sports Medicine and Orthopedics. In fact, all over the country a number of these clinics have been opening up, in particular the northwestern United States. One clinic in particular "Rebound" has set a foothold in the Portland, OR area. The Portland orthopedic clinic has received quite a bit of growth and has found itself the frontrunner in the Portland orthopedics market. 
It will be interesting to see if the current economic crisis will find its way into this industry, or if health care reform will begin to have an effect on the arena of Portland sports medicine. Honestly, it is too early to tell for sure, but there is a possibility that the industry could see some changes should President-Elect Obama or Congress try their hand at the aforementioned reform. As for Rebound, I would expect them to continue their success in the Portland orthopedic market.
Monday, November 03, 2008

Credit Crisis-Circuit City Humpday Liquidation

utterli-image
Circuit City has been hammered by losing quarters for over a year. They have cash flow issues which have prevented them from being able to buy the goods they need for the holidays. Even their own suppliers are experiencing a credit crunch. To add insult to injury, the Federal Government has not given them their $80 million tax refund (you lose money as a big corporation and you can expect a hefty return many times).

So Circuit City Announced that they will be starting with a 155 store liquidation. They will sell all the goods in 155 stores starting Wednesday and then close the doors on those stores. (list of stores http://files.shareholder.com/…20List.pdf )

The company is in serious trouble, will likely be delisted off the stock exchange and bankruptcy is expected by most analysts.

As I look into this, I do not see news in Circuit City's actions. That was little more than a foregone conclusion a few weeks ago if not further back.

However, the key item to watch here is the credit crunch hitting Circuit City's suppliers.

http://online.wsj.com/…92633.html
Mobile post sent by brettbum using Utterlireply-count Replies.