Are Department Stores Dying?
Examining Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS) and Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) is an excellent way to answer the question are department stores dying? Kohl’s and Dillard’s
Read MoreIn individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche
Examining Dillard’s (NYSE: DDS) and Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) is an excellent way to answer the question are department stores dying? Kohl’s and Dillard’s
Read MoreKohl’s is partnering with other brands for survival. To explain, Kohl’s business is being taken by a massive retail platform known as Amazon.com.
Read MoreAldi is positioning itself to cash in on America’s growing income inequality and increasing wage stagnation. Specifically, Aldi is the perfect shopping experience for an increasingly cash-strapped middle class. Indeed, Pew Research estimates middle-class Americans’ purchasing power in 2016 had not grown in over 40 years.
Read MoreGiving Walmart workers an extra $8 or $9 a day might have little or no impact on the economy. Walmart clerks can now afford to buy lunch at In-N-Out Burger; rather than at McDonald’s, how does that benefit the wider economy? Much higher wages will be needed for a real economic stimulus.
It remains to be seen if the $1,000 bonus and wage hike will have any effect on Main Street. Giving average families an extra $1,000 to pay off $1,000 of their credit card debt, might not do much for the economy. The average U.S. household now owes $15,654 in credit-card debt, Nerdwallet estimated.
Read MoreThis might make Office Depot more of an electronics services firm and put it in a good position to form some sort of partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). An obvious future for Office Depot would be a service center for Amazon electronics and a brick and mortar location for Amazon returns and pickups. A logical move for Amazon would be to buy Office Depot.
Read MoreBy shrewdly taking advantage of the opportunities created by the retail apocalypse, TJX has grown into America’s dominant department store brand. It is liable to remain in that position for a long time to come because of the sheer ineptitude of the competition.
Read MoreDetails of the partnership were not available but it would presumably involve E. Leclerc accepting Amazon returns and possibly letting customers pick up Amazon orders in its stores. Another possibility is that customers might be able to order groceries from E. Leclerc through Amazon. Amazon recently entered into a similar arrangement with the ailing American department store chain Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS).
The privately-held E. Leclerc is France’s largest supermarket with 21.1% of the nation’s grocery market in April 2017, Statista reported. There were unsubstantiated rumors that Amazon might attempt to buy France’s second largest grocer Carrefour (OTC: CARR). Carrefour currently controls 20.9% of the French grocery market.
Read MoreTaking Amazon returns would only help Kohl’s if it is the only store in town doing so.
If the arrangement increases Kohl’s foot traffic, every other retailer in town will run to Jeff Bezos’ office to ink a similar deal. People will be able to return Amazon merchandise at Kroger (NYSE: KR), Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM), Walgreens (NASDAQ: WBA), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Safeway, Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST), Office Depot (NASDAQ: ODP), Publix, CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) and possibly 7-Eleven.
Read MoreWalmart is actually testing the use of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to pay for online grocery orders at a few stores, CNBC reported. SNAP is popularly known as food stamps but recipients usually pay with a card through electronic benefits transfer (EBT).
Read MoreThe big question to ask here is: how long can Sears operate. Theoretically it might be able to stay in business for around 21 quarters or another five years. This calculation is based on a -$1.521 billion operating loss every quarter. It would take about five years to eat through all of Sears’ revenue with a loss like that.
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