The list of endangered retailers continues to grow this year. Many companies that actually exited bankruptcy in the past are now being threatened by it again, while others that proved resiliency and stability for decades are struggling with debt, weak revenue, and higher competition and may have to shut doors for good in the next few months. Forbes analysts say that a bankruptcy wave was already expected.
The only surprising thing about it is that it didn’t happen sooner. For many iconic companies, this will be the end of an era. And for many Americans, this crisis will result in some lamentable losses of favorite stores, brands, and products.
For example, after witnessing the bankruptcy and outright collapse of rival Cineworld, shares of AMC dropped by 38% in a single day. During the pandemic, the world’s largest movie theater chain became a meme stock and retail investors pushed its stock up more than 1,000%. Unfortunately, from that point on, things have only gone downhill for the entertainment retailer.
A series of controversies have emerged, including allegations that Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX may have manipulated AMC stock. More recently, Robinhood warned investors that the company was about to file for bankruptcy – which AMC later said wasn’t true. Well, at least for the time being because conditions continue to deteriorate from the chain. In February, its quarterly loss shot up to $287 million, and overall revenues fell again. The retailer is still in a very vulnerable position, and the current economic challenges may push it over the edge.
Similarly, 130-year-old teen-targeting clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch may actually be in its final year. The impact of inflation in 2022 caused a higher-than-expected plunge in sales and almost 150 store closings. Deutsche Bank analyst Tiffany Kanaga said that the institution is “highly skeptical of Abercrombie’s ability to stabilize its gross profit margin against this competitive mall backdrop.” The retailer is trying to move its operations to online platforms as its brick-and-mortar business falls apart.
Moreover, High-end department store chain Macy’s isn’t new in bankruptcy court. If first filed for bankruptcy in 1992, filing for a second time one decade later, in 2003. If anything, the timing of the filings reveals just how sensitive the company is to economic downturns and this time is no different. In 2020, Macy’s dodged bankruptcy by securing $4.5 billion in financing, but the scenario drastically changed in 2023. In the past few months, the chain has reported store shutdowns, and sales declines both in physical and online stores. A looming change in leadership is also fueling rumors that Macy’s is preparing to go out of business in the coming months.
Once again, JCPenney is on the verge of bankruptcy. In the first quarter of 2020, it filed for Chapter 11 protection to restructure its $4 billion debt, exiting bankruptcy in November, when two firms rescued the department store. Since then, the company hasn’t released financial reports, insisting that it is now on “solid footing.” But data released by Retail Dive shows ongoing volatility under its post-bankruptcy ownership.
The months ahead will be exceedingly difficult for US businesses. This is the time to show support to our favorite brands because they may be gone from our economic landscape before we even notice. The retail collapse has only just begun, and thousands of companies will continue to die right before our eyes. Today, we decided to compile the businesses that recently indicated they may be going out of business by year’s end.
Article and video cross-posted from the Epic Economist.
Here’s the list:
- Abercrombie & Fitch
- Barnes & Noble
- AMC
- Macy’s
- American Eagle Outfitters
- JCPenney
- Forever 21
- Kmart
- Foot Locker
- J. Jill
- Casper Sleep
- Alex and Ani
- Brooks Brothers
- Tailored Brands
- Wayfair
Will any of these fall in the second half of the year? Some of them? All of them? We’ll see.
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All selling the same cheap shit that nobody really needs good riddance.
I figure they will turn all those dead malls into 15 minute cities. Think how many sleeping pods you could fit in those huge malls complete with food courts so you never have to leave.
Sign me up I’m tired of being a wage and tax slave.
No man, they’re going to turn them into more FEMA camps! Shits about to hit the fan any second now! LMAO
Trump’s Freedom Cities? I’ve heard some stupid talk before. Why I say Trump does not know whether he is coming or going. Freedom Cities? I guess his droids stand up and yell, yea!
Oddly enough, just two of those businesses in my immediate area and it is almost 30 miles away in the same Mall we never go to. I love living out in the sticks and couldn’t care less if they all go under.
Well,feel there are too many stores vrs. folks in US anyhow.
I realize this will affect a lot of folks losing jobs and thus recession(depression)worsen but frankly really never excepting perhaps kmart(thought they were done years ago) never shopped in any of those stores.
People don’t dress up anymore. The current trend is wearing actual pajamas out in public. Even Fetterneck can’t be bothered to put a suit on and just rolls out of bed. Not good. Every time in American history that things were good people dressed really well. This is just another sign of the collapse.
The only one on that list I will miss is Barnes and Noble. Touching actual books is such a pleasure.
The only one on that list I will miss is Barnes and Noble. Touching actual books is such a pleasure.,
Amen to that, but I buy from used book stores or other places that sell use books, like thrift stores and flea markets. I am not paying Barnes and Nobles prices.
Check locally for ‘Friends of the Library’ book stores, there are several in my county (SE AZ) that sell retired library books @ $1.00 for hard back and .10 cents for paper backs! I usually re-donate when done if I can’t find anyone interested. Great system to share knowledge.
Peace, L.
In addition to library sales, people basically give books away at garage sales.
There was an independent book store near me that used to sell brand new leather bound books with the gold leafing on the pages. They were so amazing to touch. All the classics. I wish I had a chance to buy a few of the classic novels they had before they went out of business. Real collector’s items.
Agreed. Fat slobs everywhere. It’s so uninspiring.
And, yes, LOVE touching actual books. LOVE smelling them, too. I will miss B&N, but you know what, they kept putting out their woke/radical sexual displays that I eventually gave them the finger.
AA – Last time I was in B-N, I headed to the men’s room and as I turned the corner next to the Children’s books, there was a gigantic display of homosexual and transgender books. I’m sure it was the last time I will ever set foot in one of their establishments.
I totally believe it! Sad.
here’s another great resource for books! Smoking prices,
https://www.abebooks.com/
Peace, L.
Idiot, absolutely agree. I’ve only bought 1 new sports coat in my life, $20.00 from Kohls about 8 yrs ago. Haven’t bought Levis 501’s in over 30 yrs since they moved production to Mexico. Nothing against Mexicans but Levis WAS an iconic American Company that sold out Americans. F’em!
I also checked the list, I thought Brooks Bros was already gone, no use for any of the others, NONE!
Wifey brought me home 5 Brooks Bros ‘suit case’ shirts from the thrift store @ $1.00 ea! (they retail @$100.00 a pop) I’ve bought every suit I’ve ever owned from thrift stores, always wool.
Expert tip; avoid scavanger army and gimpwillie, bloated bureaucracy helping themselves at the expense of the poor!
Dress for success, it doesn’t matter what you paid for it.
Peace, L.
I’ve browsed thrift stores for years. 36-38 waist must be a popular size because I never find any pants that size in thrift stores. And jeans, forget it.
The stores need to die as there will be far fewer customers soon anyway.
The destruction of the middle class and their disposable income means few will be able to buy anything beyond the basics. The buy-it-on-credit, spend-more-than-you-earn morons will keep the wheels turning for a couple more years, but that can’t last.
Looking at the list in the article, does anybody really care if they all go tits up?
The trend will probably go like the old general stores that used to be. Selling merchandise locally produced. Maybe I’ll start one.
I have a feeling the little “general store” or “dry goods store” are things that might make a come back in just a few years. All that Chinese made garbage will no longer be available and people won’t be able to afford much more than flour, coffee and beans. The rest the will trade for with neighbors.
US so called leaders sold US down the river long ago. That’s why I laugh at the chosen one , Donald Trump, foaming at the mouth in 2016 about China. The US needs a far “greater” individual than the man from Queens.
Good idea, but… young people don’t know how to do jack shit! I also recall general stores/trading posts. Everything from food to clothes to building supplies. Where are you going to source boots/shoes, tar/mineral paper and roofing nails produced locally?
Peace, L.
When I said locally produced I meant mostly produce and other items that could be procured locally. Other items would of course have to be had some other way. Preferably by US manufacturers.
Lower standards of living will take adjusting. Service and entertainment jobs always existed on the backs of real labor and the greater the foreign share of that labor, the less sustainable it became.
Barnes and Nobles is way overpriced. JC Penney’s had mostly clothes for gang-bangers the last time I was in it years. ago. K Mart disappeared where I live 10 years ago, along with Sears which it owned. Teens no longer go to the mall but buy online at Amazon. Other than Macy’s I have never been in any of them.
Let me know if Cabala’s or Fleet-farm get in trouble though, I would appreciate that as that is where I shop if I need something. (I used to buy at Gander Mountain, but that was another company that ignored it’s consumers and went out of business.)
Fleet-farm – the men’s mall, if they don’t have it, you don’t need it!
Cabela’s went batshit crazy on me when I refused to mask up in December 2021 when I was there buying X-mas gifts. Big scene, 2 managers got involved, only ONE person – a dentist – came to my help when everyone else was shaming me. Never been back. Fuck them. Hope they go out of biz.
Such rowdiness in Texas.
That was in Lone Tree, CO. And, now that I think about it, I had the year wrong. It was December 2020, not 2021. Before I moved to TX, where things normalized some.
Those two years felt like a decade and it’s all a blur.
Normalized sort of depending where one is. I checked with a U-Haul outfit in Euless , Texas about rentals , forgot about masks required in the metromess at the time , read the sign on the door “Masks Required”. What will I do? No mask. No problem. I remembered the bandana in my back pocket. It’s even the one with the cowboys bucking horses. But the lady at the counter said my bandana was not a mask. Her husband seemed irritated I would clown around like that and approached the desk. I split. They reminded me of some I’ve known from New York.
Reactions may vary by location. Just like merchandise and prices.
Kmart has been gone from our market about 10 yrs also. I read an article a couple of months ago and i.i.r.c. it said there was only four left in the US.
Well, Eddie Lampert eked by, somehow, despite liquidating both Sears & Kmart. Moors his 200’+ yacht along the Ashley River Marina from time to time.
Buy Amazon and TBP gets a tiny bone thrown its way.
In Texas if one wants to be patriotic and all buying local, chances are the kid at the local hardware store knows less than you. It’s all on you anyway.
“while others that proved resiliency and stability for decades are struggling with debt…”
You’re either taking on debt or you’re dying. And even then, you’re soon to be on the edge when the downturn comes.
I’m on the dying side not old yet aging so my wife and I decided it a good thing to figure out where we be buried upon death. A very good deal on free plots. 😊 Dollar bill expense is for the preparation and “conservative” headstones. I cannot be more fiscally conservative. And family that plant us will probably like the fact they won’t experience much out of pocket, perhaps some fried chicken at the whatever it is after the planting. It will be a good Texas ending for both married peeps.
ESG Dystopia: Why Corporations Are Doubling Down On Woke Even As They Lose Billions
It’s been a bloodbath for the majority of companies that go overtly woke in the new era of American consumer rebellion, and the establishment is not happy. Corporations like Disney, Anheuser-Busch and Target are plunging in profits and losing billions in market cap after pledging fealty to the trans agenda. In particular, the public is setting out to make examples of institutions that support trans indoctrination of children. Simply put, a line in the sand has been crossed…
ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) is becoming a well known term and is, at bottom, a form of “impact investing” – Meaning, major lenders such as Blackrock or Carlyle Group, or think-tanks like the Ford Foundation, seek to control societal outcomes using lending as leverage. Watch the video HERE featuring the Ford Foundation’s head of “mission investments” to get a basic understanding of what ESG really is: Social engineering.
In the past, lenders would base their financing standards on good credit scores and the likelihood of return on investment. If you had a business with a history of solid returns and worthy collateral then you would probably get whatever loans you needed. Today, however, lenders are trying to set political and ideological terms for companies seeking to obtain financing. You must signal your virtue to get access to money, and this includes supporting climate and carbon initiatives, reorganizing your labor based on diversity and inclusion rules, even promoting LGBT activism might be a big factor in your next infusion of cash…
Twenty years ago, the name of the game in the business world was “brand building.” If you could build your brand and gain market loyalty you could sustain your profit model for decades to come. Now, corporations are actually willing to destroy the very brands they spent so much time and money developing all in the name of political idolatry.
It seems like pure madness, but what if they know something we don’t? What if they are riding out an engineered economic crisis so that they can be rewarded later with “too woke to fail” riches? My theory is that while ESG lending appears to be dying today, tomorrow ESG lending will be the only way any company will be able to survive.
We need to start considering the future possibility of globally institutionalized ESG. The frightening notion of central bank ESG financing has been circulating ever since the early days of the covid pandemic. From the BIS to the Fed to the ECB, numerous programs began to surface with woke connotations. Most of them initially focused on climate change, with central banks suddenly taking an interest in “saving the planet” from a carbon threat that doesn’t exist. Now, there’s a rising chorus of DEI and social equity babble coming from central banks as well…
Unlike the crash of 2008, though, the next stimulus event will not be a fiat free-for-all. Instead, it will be RESET; a highly limited rescue plan with digital money being infused into select institutions. In other words, only a portion of the existing economy will be given a life boat, and guess who will qualify for a spot on the raft? That’s right, companies showing the most devotion to ESG.
This would explain why so many corporations are refusing to back away from woke marketing even though they’re losing millions of customers; they know what’s about to happen and they’re preparing in advance for the fallout as well as the inevitable digital bailouts.
KMart took a dirt nap in Canada decades ago. Target took
a dirt nap in Canada years ago, too. Target has decided to
come back to Canada so they can take yet another dirt nap.
BIG Box stores depend on disposable income & discretionary
income, too. Nobody has disposable income except Warren Buffet
& Jeff Bezos. Warren & Jeff can’t buy all the shit for sale. Ergo,
unless Warren & Jeff buy all the cheap throwaway shit from China
markets will decouple & implode.
Late Stage Ponzi Capitalism is like that.
America is already a shit hole.
I’m not surprised it’s insolvent and the stores are
closing due to a lack of income.
The .0001% can buy it all now, folks.
MOU