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Boscov Brothers Bid for Boscov Stores

Found in: Bankruptcy, Economics
Friday
October 17, 2008
1 Comment

Members of the family that founded and, for many years, ran the Boscov department store chain have revealed that they have bid to buy back the stores current under bankruptcy protection:

Albert R. Boscov and his brother-in-law Edwin A. Lakin are among the group who put in an offer for Boscov’s Inc., in a bankruptcy auction that culminates next week with the selection of a winning bidder, Boscov said in a report published today.

The pair, who helped run the company for decades, received multimillion-dollar buyout packages when they retired in January 2006 and handed the controls to Lakin’s son, chief executive officer Ken Lakin.

Boscov’s, you may remember, filed for bankruptcy protection in August and immediately closed 10 of their 49 stores. The remaining 39 stores are still operating under bankruptcy protection while bids are accepted that will determine the future of the company.

The deadline for bids was October 15 and more information may be revealed next week as to who the new owner will be. The other top bidder is Versa Capital Management.

I’d like to see someone buy Boscov’s who will continue to operate it. It’s a respectable mid-size department store chain. While my local Boscov’s has already closed, I hope the other 39 can remain open as long as financially feasible.

With the economy as it stands today, I can’t really imagine someone buying the chain with the intention to shut it down and sell off the real estate. There’s not a huge market for mall anchor real estate right now. Other department store chains, like Kohl’s and JC Penney, have already announced reductions in their short-term growth plans. Who else would be moving in to these locations?

Retailers See Mixed Results in June

Found in: Monthly Retail Sales
Thursday
July 10, 2008
No Comments

Le Chateau Yonge & Bloor Toronto

Another mixed month for retail sales.  While some retailers rebounded and look to go into Back to School on a positive note, it was another dark month for some mall and teen retailers.

Wal-Mart beat expectations with a 5.8% increase in June (showing 6.1% increase at their US name-brand stores and a 4.6% increase at their Sam’s Club locations). Target ended up in positive territory with a 0.4% uptick in same store sales. Costco showed a 9% increase, Kohl’s beat estimates with a 2.3% increase, and even mall retailer Aeropostale showed gains with a 12% increase in June.

The month was not as kind to mall and teel retailers such as Gap (company down 7%), Abercrombie (down 3%), and American Eagle (down 11%).

June’s numbers have been posted to Retail Numbers, which allows you to chart and track the retail industry monthly same-store sales.

More coverage from Fox Business and the Associated Press.


Photo above from Flickr user James@mannequindisplay. com, used under Creative Commons.

iPhone launch – Freehold Mall (NJ)

Found in: Current Events
Friday
June 29, 2007
1 Comment

Just took a ride to the Freehold Mall, which is the closest Apple retail location. Long line outside the store, snaking it’s way down the center court and avoiding other stores. Probably 75 people in the line when I was there. A second line, with an additional 15-20 people, is located outside of the AT&T store, located just around the bend from the Apple store.

The Asbury Park Press has more on the crowd at the Freehold location. First person got in line at 4:00PM yesterday. Read more from Lines form as gadget fans get ready to scoop up iPhones.

The buzz around this product is building and I’m really interested to see one of thees myself. It’s hard, as a techie, to not get sucked in to the hype around this. From a retail perspective, it’s really incredible to see people who are willing to camp out and spend time to get the product. These are loyal customers, and sometimes, it doesn’t seem like too many retailers or brands have customers that loyal anymore.

Is Atlantic City the next retail mecca?

Found in: New Jersey
Thursday
June 29, 2006
2 Comments

Greetings from Atlantic City

Let me say this first, I love Atlantic City. I do enjoy playing cards and sitting in front of an Elvis slot machine. Although my last few trips haven’t been very successful, I have enjoyed watching the development of The Pier at Caesars unfold.

The Pier at Caesars is a $200 million redevelopment project of the former Ocean One Mall on the beach in Atlantic City. Boasting a mix of high and mid level retailers (Coach, Gucci and Louis Vuitton meet Ann Taylor, Quiksilver, Gymboree and Victoria’s Secret), this mall has been eagerly anticipated by tourists and residents alike.

The mall officially opened on Tuesday, although it is only the first phase. About a dozen of the ninety stores are open, with none of the resturaunts open yet. Developers say that more stores will open throughout the Summer with everything open by Labor Day. Work is still being done on some of the more decorative pieces, including fountains and billboards.

A good overview is the mall and the opening is available from the Associated Press: Once Tacky Resort City Gets More Class. The Press of Atlantic City has another, localized article about the opening which says that opening day was not all that impressive to some shoppers.

The Pier at Caesars is the second major retail project the town has. 2005 saw the opening of The Walk, aka the Atlantic City Outlets. This $76 million retail development project is beautiful – a great mix of stores that seems to be doing extremely well. From Gap to Polo Ralph Lauren to coffee at Starbucks, I have enjoyed walking this outdoor mall. Last year, the Baltimore Sun had an excellent article about the retail development of Atlantic City, with a focus on The Walk.

With all of this retail development in a city that is increasingly focusing on non-casino offerings, Atlantic City has become a great place to visit for those who are interested in visual merchandising and creative retail solutions. I have already enjoyed trips to The Walk and I am very interested in going to see The Pier at Caesars. I believe shoppers and tourists will respond well to the mix of stores available in Atlantic City.

This isn’t the end of large scale, non-casino development in Atlantic City. I can’t wait to see what the next few years bring.

Gap's Makeover

Found in: Retail
Wednesday
June 7, 2006
1 Comment

Gap is relaunching all of their domestic stores on July 20 with a new store setup in an effort to win back customers and gain back some of it’s marketshare. According to CNNmoney, same-store sales have declined in 17 of the past 19 months at Gap, so obviously they are trying to mend that. The new layout will feature four “shops” within the store. CNNmoney describes:

The “denim shop” will sell jeans, denim skirts, trousers, vests and jackets. The “T-shirt” shop will feature all styles in one area of the store. The “clean shop” will feature more sophisticated urban upscale clothing such as cashmere sweaters, jackets, trousers while the “hoodies shop” will showcase a collection of fleece activewear clothing such as sweatshirts and casual cargo pants.

More from CNNmoney here.

The re-launch will also coincide with a new marketing and television campaign.

The Motley Fool also has an article about the recent developments with the Gap: Gap’s New Ideas.

As a visual merchandiser, I am most excited about seeing what Gap does with this new store layout. The current store layout is very neat and clean – wood floors, white walls, bright lights, and open space. This is a layout that allows the merchandise to really stand out, look sharp and almost sell itself.

But the fashion offerings from the Gap in the past few seasons haven’t stood out. The past few seasons have not been really impressed me or made me want to spend money at the Gap (I’m sure this is a common sentiment – judging by their downward trend in sales). The colors are very monotone. When you have a huge white statement surrounded by the wood and white walls, it makes the store look very sterile.

The Gap store in the Freehold Raceway Mall was recently remodeled. Looking back on my last visit there, I realize now that this was probably a test for the new store layout. I remember seeing the distinct shop concepts within the store, reminding me of their sister store, Old Navy, but making things more organized and logical to shop.

But more than anything, I noticed the colors, new fixtures, and exciting graphics. It is an extremely visually stimulating store – a much different feel from the previous layout. If this is in fact the new layout, I am very interested to see how this rolls out across the country.

Combine the new store layout with more timely deliveries of new merchandise (we shoppers are very fickle, aren’t we? We need everything today and new something new tomorrow) and this could be the push in the right direction that Gap needs right now.