Ralph Lauren is the next to fall in line, that is the unemployment and closure line, with more than 1,000 jobs being cut and 50 stores shutting their doors. Much like Macys, Walmart, Sears and a list of “major U.S. retailers that (sic) have announced the closing of more than 6,000 stores from coast to coast”, Ralph Lauren can no longer operate in the same manner and hope to ever be profitable in this Obamanemic economy.
As the dismal, jobless Obama economy continues, clothing retailer Ralph Lauren has announced a major scaling back of its U.S. operations, with the loss of one thousand jobs and the closure of 50 stores.
The experience of Ralph Lauren is not an outlier. The retail sector is still contracting as the U.S. economy continues to struggle with anemic growth in the era of President Barack Obama. Numerous retailers have announced store closures to try to keep ahead of the floundering retail climate.
Walmart had to take stock in its stock and determine what would be best to grow. “The announcement comes three months after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Doug McMillon told investors that the world’s largest retailer would review its fleet of stores with the goal of becoming more nimble in the face of increased competition from all fronts, including from online rival Amazon.com.”
Michael Exstein, an analyst at Credit Suisse, described the moves as “baby steps” in his report published Friday, but he believes they are positive ones. He noted that this is the first mass closing that Wal-Mart has announced in at least two decades.
“It is a sign that Wal-Mart has begun the process of dealing with unproductive locations in a much more tangible and coherent way,” he wrote. “But we continue to believe that Wal-Mart needs a much larger restructuring of its store base in order to narrow its focus as it seeks to improve its sales and returns, especially internationally.”
Macy’s also had to “shutter many locations due to a host of economic conditions… and one serious mistake. The retail legend cited low levels of spending, geo-economic blather and even blamed global warming. There was no mention of the impact their 10 million dollar CEO Jerry Lundgren had on sucking up valuable dollars but the normal excuse of “I am paid by a board” was surely thrown around the few times he had to excuse himself this year.
Six-thousand retailers have boarded up as well from coast to coast, creating a retail apocalypse.
For example, 1,784 Radio Shack stores are vanishing, 400 of the Office Depot/Office Max chain by 2016, and 340 Dollar Tree/Family Dollar stores.
The growing list of stores getting shuttered coincides with the decline in discretionary consumer spending over the past six months.
“Expect to see more storefronts closed at malls across the country,” one retail watcher told WND. “It’s getting ugly out there.”
Another factor, the source said, is that Americans’ credit is maxed out – a problem that will impact holiday season sales later this year. Add the demand of rising taxes, housing and health-insurance costs and you’ve got a formula for belt-tightening across the board.
“By some analysis in 2014, the retail sector suffered a “tsunami” of store closings as retailers such as Sears, JCPenney, Radio Shack, office supply chain Staples, and Macy’s were hit by a wave of store closings. Other retailers, like Sam’s Club and Target, laid off thousands of people as they closed their stores”, reported Breitbart.
The paper lists nearly half-a-dozen firms that are closing stores. Men’s Wearhouse, Kohl’s, Walmart, JCPenny, Gap, and Macy’s are all in the losing category, with closings already totaling a 33.2 percent rise above store closings in 2015.
The fall has continued over the last few years. 2015 was a 29 percent increase from the numbers in 2014, and 2014 was up from 2013.
“We are hitting a tipping point,” Richard Church, managing director of Discern Investment Analytics, told the Post. “We are in a weak demand environment that could meaningfully accelerate next year.”
Yet, the White House continues to lie to the gullible public, claiming that unemployment is down 4.7 percent! With this many stores closing and near half of those who are unemployed no longer looking for work, is it any wonder that the retailers don’t have customers to shop in their establishments? One cannot afford a Ralph Lauren shirt, when one has stopped looking for employment.
Source: Breitbart
The only shoppers there are bitches like Hiliary. She probably bought her $1200 jacket there.