RETAIL DEATH RATTLE GROWS LOUDER
Posted on 25th May 2014 by Administrator i

he definition of death rattle is a sound often produced by someone who is near death when fluids such as saliva and bronchial secretions accumulate in the throat and upper chest. The person can’t swallow and emits a deepening wheezing sound as they gasp for breath. This can go on for two or three days before death relieves them of their misery. The American retail industry is emitting an unmistakable wheezing sound as a long slow painful death approaches.



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Retail store results for the 1st quarter of 2014 have been rolling in over the last week. It seems the hideous government reported retail sales results over the last six months are being confirmed by the dying bricks and mortar mega-chains. In case you missed the corporate mainstream media not reporting the facts and doing their usual positive spin, here are the absolutely dreadful headlines:

* Wal-Mart Profit Plunges By $220 Million as US Store Traffic Declines by 1.4%
* Target Profit Plunges by $80 Million, 16% Lower Than 2013, as Store Traffic Declines by 2.3%
* Sears Loses $358 Million in First Quarter as Comparable Store Sales at Sears Plunge by 7.8% and Sales at Kmart Plunge by 5.1%
* JC Penney Thrilled With Loss of Only $358 Million For the Quarter
* Kohl’s Operating Income Plunges by 17% as Comparable Sales Decline by 3.4%
* Costco Profit Declines by $84 Million as Comp Store Sales Only Increase by 2%
* Staples Profit Plunges by 44% as Sales Collapse and Closing Hundreds of Stores
* Gap Income Drops 22% as Same Store Sales Fall
* Ann Taylor Profit Crashes by 75% as Same Store Sales Fall
* American Eagle Profits Tumble 86%, Will Close 150 Stores
* Aeropostale Losses $77 Million as Sales Collapse by 12%
* Big Lots Profit Tumbles by 90% as Sales Flat & Exiting Canadian Market
* Best Buy Sales Decline by $300 Million as Margins Decline and Comparable Store Sales Decline by 1.3%
* Macy’s Profit Flat as Comparable Store Sales decline by 1.4%
* Dollar General Profit Plummets by 40% as Comp Store Sales Decline by 3.8%
* Urban Outfitters Earnings Collapse by 20% as Sales Stagnate
* McDonalds Earnings Fall by $66 Million as US Comp Sales Fall by 1.7%
* Darden Profit Collapses by 30% as Same Restaurant Sales Plunge by 5.6% and Company Selling Red Lobster
* TJX Misses Earnings Expectations as Sales & Earnings Flat
* Dick’s Misses Earnings Expectations as Golf Store Sales Plummet
* Home Depot Misses Earnings Expectations as Customer Traffic Only Rises by 2.2%
* Lowes Misses Earnings Expectations as Customer Traffic was Flat

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Retail CEO gurus all think they have a master plan to revive sales. I’ll let you in on a secret. They don’t really have a plan. They have no idea why they experienced tremendous success from 2000 through 2007, and why their businesses have not revived since the 2008 financial collapse. Retail CEOs are not the sharpest tools in the shed. They were born on third base and thought they hit a triple. Now they are stranded there, with no hope of getting home. They should be figuring out how to position themselves for the multi-year contraction in sales, but their egos and hubris will keep them from taking the actions necessary to keep their companies afloat in the next decade. Bankruptcy awaits. The front line workers will be shit canned and the CEO will get a golden parachute. It’s the American way.

The secret to retail success before 2007 was: create or copy a successful concept; get Wall Street financing and go public ASAP; source all your inventory from Far East slave labor factories; hire thousands of minimum wage level workers to process transactions; build hundreds of new stores every year to cover up the fact the existing stores had deteriorating performance; convince millions of gullible dupes to buy cheap Chinese shit they didn’t need with money they didn’t have; and pretend this didn’t solely rely upon cheap easy debt pumped into the veins of American consumers by the Federal Reserve and their Wall Street bank owners. The financial crisis in 2008 revealed everyone was swimming naked, when the tide of easy credit subsided.

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Lots More:
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2014/0...e-grows-louder/