STORES Magazine - August 2008 - (Page 50)

shopping mall — directing shoppers to branded stores carrying other retailers’ names — and as a facilitator and consultant for retailers too small or too inexperienced to establish e-commerce businesses on their own. All the while, Amazon has remained innovative and creative while adding new merchandise categories (like groceries) and introducing the Kindle, an electronic device enabling the downloading and reading of books in digital formats. GameStop spreads internationally ameStop has no direct competition in this country, though retailers from Best Buy and Blockbuster to Target and Walmart all sell electronic games. GameStop continues to open stores here, aiming for about 300 this year, but its greatest opportunities are overseas, Pure-play where it buys entire chains to e-tailers in the Hot 100 enter a new country or market. G B L ACK 4 64 TO RED It would be hard to find anyone who has faced as much adversity and worked as hard at getting a retail business back on track as Rite Aid president and CEO Mary Sammons. And this year, no one is leading a company that has sustained such a large swing from profit ($26.8 million) to loss ($1.1 billion) in successive years. Sammons took the reins of Rite Aid amid accounting scandals that required the reconfiguration of financial statements, a period that also saw rivals CVS and Walgreen beef up store counts. When the opportunity presented itself in the form of the Brooks Pharmacy and Eckerd chains being placed on the selling block by Jean Coutu Group, Rite Aid did some bulking up itself. Just as the digestion and integration of the acquired units moved into high gear, however, consumer spending now,” she says, “finishing the remaining minor remodels of went into a swoon, and Rite Aid was swamped with red ink. the acquired stores.” And with most of the heavy lifting This year is a different story. behind them, the combined businesses are expected to “We increased both pharmacy and front-end sales in the “contribute significantly to strong results in the second half core Rite Aid stores,” Samof the fiscal year.” COMPANY 2007 2006 mons says. “We also passed a Rite Aid’s story is replicated LOSS EARNINGS major milestone in the integraat several other members of the Rite Aid ($1,078,990) $26,826 tion of the former Brooks EckBlack to Red grouping, includTalbots (188,841) 31,576 erd stores by completing the ing A&P, which shed many A&P (160,680) 26,893 store systems conversion. stores before acquiring rival TransWorld Entertainment (99,400) 11,700 Today, pharmacy dispensing, Pathmark Stores in an effort to Charming Shoppes (86,567) 108,923 cash registers and all business become a strong regional chain Blockbuster (85,100) 39,200 applications are now consistent in the Northeast. Ditto for Finish Line (60,385) 32,364 in all of our stores and we can Talbots, which found itself The Children’s Place (59,567) 87,390 manage our business seamoverextending in apparel forClaire’s Stores (43,131) 188,762 lessly nationwide. mats aimed at niche markets General Nutrition Centers (32,300) 37,400 “We’re in the home stretch and has begun to reinvent itself. All dollar figures in thousands H16 STORES / AUGUST 2008 WWW.STORES.ORG 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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