STORES Magazine - August 2008 - (Page 49)

SIZZLING SEGMENT Specialty Apparel American Apparel Coldwater Creek Gymboree bebe Stores J.Crew Men’s Wearhouse Jos. A. Bank The Children’s Place Big Dog Holdings 12.0% 35.8 33.8 16.3 15.9 15.9 12.2 10.5 7.2 6.7 might be coming at the expense of fiscal prudence, with securities analysts and industry watchers raising red flags over equilibrium on the company’s balance sheet. Coldwater Creek began as a catalog retailer that ventured into e-commerce, bricks-and-mortar stores – even day spas in conjunction with some store locations. Its NOT SO HOT U N I T G ROWTH winning streak has not continued into the current year, as sales in the early months had dropped from year-ago levels. In the words of president and CEO Daniel Griesemer, the major factor appears to be that the chain’s merchandise offerings have “become part of 6 the circle of sameness.” Amazon.com hasn’t carved out a niche so much as it has defined what online retailing is and how it should be conducted. The result is a formidable seller of books, music, movies and a lot of Department other goods, as well as an entity store operators in the Hot 100 that functions like an electronic 2 Landry’s, REX Stores and Macy’s have been here before. All were included on this list last year and have been moving aggressively to lop off unproductive and underperforming locations so the core operation can thrive. Sometimes this is an ongoing process. When it was still Federated Department Stores, Macy’s sold the Lord & Taylor chain and redundant department stores acquired in the purchase of May Department Stores. It took a little longer to sell the specialty stores in May’s bridal division, and the divestiture of the After Hours formalwear business lingered until 2007. On the other hand, REX Stores, which is on the list for the third straight year, isn’t interested in expanding its electronics retail business: it is closing units so it can continue investing in alternative energy efforts, including ethanol production. Landry’s Restaurants has a tale that is a bit more convoluted. The Houston-based operator of Chart House, Rainforest Café, Salt Grass Steak House and Landry’s Seafood House restaurants, as well as the Golden Nugget Casinos and The Boardwalk Inn entertainment complex in Kemah, Texas, saw many of its Gulf Coast locations devastated by Hurricane Katrina in late 2005. Several, the company determined, weren’t worth reopening. Two years ago, Landry’s also sold 120 Joe’s Crab Shacks to J.H. Whitney Capital Partners and closed 16 others that it couldn’t sell. During its most recently completed fiscal year, Landry’s closed more locations as it reorganized its diverse businesses. Tilman J. Fertitta, co-founder, chairman, president and CEO of Landry’s, wants to buy the 61 percent of the company he doesn’t already own. COMPANY 2007 UNITS 2006 UNITS CHANGE Landry’s Seafood REX Stores Macy’s Hancock Fabrics Limited Brands Cracker Barrel TransWorld Entertainment Nordstrom Pacific Sunwear Syms 179 115 853 270 2,926 564 800 157 944 33 375 193 1,360 404 3,798 712 992 191 1,119 36 -52.3% -40.4 -37.3 -33.2 -23.0 -20.8 -19.4 -17.8 -15.6 -8.3 WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / AUGUST 2008 H15 http://Amazon.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - August 2008

STORES Magazine - August 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page The Lure of Free Shipping Walmart’s New Look What Shoppers Think Will Widgets Work for Wheat Bread and Wasabi? 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Store Design Industry Economics Hot 100 Retailers Concept2Watch Mobile Technology Small Store Technology Website Optimization Site Selection Mobile Payments Recycling Merchandising: Cool Sells Merchandising: Merchandising in Mexico Store Construction & Development Human Resources Loyalty Programs Mobile Marketing Loeb Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - August 2008

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