This week, Toys "R" Us announced that it will close all of more than 700 stores in the U.S. Here's the link to the Wall St. Journal article. The store closings will affect 33,000 employees.
But the implications go beyond those lost jobs. (And, by the way, even as the country adds jobs, it doesn't mean that the soon-to-be-unemployed will be able to land a new job quickly or without disruption.)
For example, 700 malls will now have big-box retail space they will need to rent out. Worse, unrented stores can lead to others deciding to close or move their stores. Today, Signet Jewelers, which owns Kay Jewelers, Zales, and Jared, announced it will close more than 200 stores. Instead, they will open new ones away from shopping malls.
The closings of Toys R Us and Signet stores puts more pressure on mall operators to find new tenant that mix well with the current set of tenants (i.e., not compete). Getting the right mix of stores to bring in traffic to the mall is more an art than a science. So mall operators need to find the right types of retailers that can use the kind of space being vacated by Toys R Us and Signet. And some of the remaining stores may decide to leave that particular mall.
Meanwhile, the closing of the Toys R Us chain will also affect toy makers. Check out this Wall St. Journal article: "Toy Makers Stare at $11 Billion Hole With Death of Toys ‘R’ Us." So there's a negative impact that goes beyond the loss of retail jobs but could also lead to job losses at toy makers.
Unfortunately, we expect more news about the retailpocalypse this year. What we're still not seeing is a lot about the impact beyond job loss and impact on creditors. The media may start paying attention as the bad news in retail sector adds up.
No comments:
Post a Comment