Retail Doom

September 26, 2023 at 6:00 pm | No Comments »

The Washington Post published a poorly-reported article that’s just another example of retail executives who over-expand and otherwise fail at being merchants then use shoplifting as a convenient excuse for closing stores that should have never opened. The reporting is incredibly sloppy. The sub-head stating three San Francisco-Oakland stores closing is a lie. It’s one in SF, one in Oakland, and one in suburban Pittsburg, CA. The accompanying photo actually is my neighborhood store that’s not on the list.

The SF store set to close is a cursed space. It was originally a Sports Authority that failed ahead of that chain’s larger issues because there’s little foot traffic thanks to the location being under the city’s sole freeway. Worse, there’s a tiny parking lot that’s difficult to access due to the surrounding streets being a confusing maze of one-ways and no turns.

If you can’t tell, I have a great deal of contempt for how Target has been run of late. I was in my neighborhood store earlier today yet walked out without making a purchase. Unbeknownst to me, the item I needed had been on sale so the shelves were bare. So typical. Half the time, I walk out empty handed because they’re out of stock, the item is in a locked cabinet and employees don’t respond to those annoying buttons, or the in-store price is significantly higher than what’s offered on target.com.

I’ve taken to wondering if we’re seeing the tell tale signs of a long-term strategy to strangle brick and mortar. Certainly seems like a convenient way for executives to get out of expensive leases without admitting to Wall Street types that their expansion strategies were doomed and should have never made it past the PowerPoint stage.

---