Have you seen “Store Closing” in your local news headlines this year?
Store Closing – News Headlines
“Macy’s announces closing of 68 stores.” “Sears & Kmart to close 150 stores.” “250 Limited stores closing for good on Sunday.” The huge headlines about the state of the retail industry focus on just the major retailers! What about the small independent Mom & Pop stores that faced the same tough holiday season?
These major retailers are dealing with stockholders investments. Mom & Pop are dealing with their own personal investment of money, time and emotions. The news channels are all talking about sales.
When you look at overall holiday sales for brick and mortar stores it doesn’t look too bad. The number being tossed around is somewhere around a 3.5% increase overall. But that hardly explains the biggest problem. Those sales were bought with deep discounts. That drives down the margin dollars that these retailers must use to cover operating expenses. The ” Store Closing ” announcements that you hear about at the beginning of the year will be followed up by a wave of bankruptcy announcements by mid-year.
My advice to most small retailers is to take a hard look at your year-end reports. Are you are disappointed in your business results for 2016? Then you really need to stop and think about the viability of your retail store moving forward. Most small retailers that I work with believe that they should have made the decision to close their store at least one year earlier. And in some cases two to three years earlier.
If you want to learn more about conducting a Store Closing Sale, Going Out of Business Sale or Retirement Sale please contact me for a FREE CONSULTATION.
Chuck Haug
CCH Consulting, LLC