| The Rhea County News Paper |
| "Rhea County's REAL Information Source" |
Store closings across the country are seen by some to be of no consequence to them. In small
rural communities, there was a day that there was only one road in and one road out of town.
People worked hard to scratch out a living and when times were hard, they just worked that
much harder never really knowing or understanding just what events were happening
elsewhere that effected them, as well as their livelihoods.
In today's modern age of communication there is absolutely NO excuse for people not being
aware of their surroundings. Sure, people can say "this is Rhea County and we all love Jesus"
and blah, blah blah...
However, the whole time most people are spouting out things like this and refusing to educate
their minds, it is no wonder why deviant, sneaky people get ahead. Hey, it doesn't seem to
matter very much as to how smart, dumb or just plain stupid a person can be. That doesn't
seem to matter. That is one big part that I simply cannot understand.
Let me ask you this: Back before we all had a weather man tell us what the weather was going
to be, just how did anyone know how to predict rain? Since weather patterns in the United
States generally travel west to east, would it be possible to look to the west and see a big black
thunder cloud and maybe, just maybe, think that rain was on the way? Remember, it has
always been said that a dumb chicken will drown looking up into a rain storm trying to figure
out just what in the heck was falling from the sky.
As Rhea Countians should know, there isn't much business at all in Rhea County when you
step back and actually take an objective look at things. If you were to magically pluck out all
the little "craft" stores in Dayton, take Morgan's furniture out of the equation and then
heaven forbid, Wal-Mart closes, just what would be left in Dayton? Rest assured that store
closings, mortgage foreclosures, high gasoline prices, the cost of an idiotic war on a state of
mind emotion such as "terror" sucking your money away, and a host of the trickle down
effects that can send YOU to the poor house.
With that in mind, we have tried to compile some business closings. This is a rather hard task
because it seems that everyday we hear of some sort of business closing. All of these closings
are probably no where near Rhea County, Tennessee but you must be much more savvy than
that. You must realize that there is indeed a domino effect and you will in all likelihood be the
last domino to feel the flop. Sadly as you find yourself worrying about debts and just trying to
get by you will also find yourself paying more and more police citations, etc., because police
departments owe you no general duty and are a tremendous source of money for a city. This
is not me saying this stuff, it is the courts. If need be, I can stop what I am doing now and find
the case laws and insert them within this article, but I choose not to. I suggest you not take
anyone's word but do what you need to do to make it through these trying times.
And as we watch these businesses go under, homes being foreclosed, vehicles being
repossessed just take a look around at all the NEW apartments going up in Dayton. These
apartments look nice in their pretty vinyl and fake mountain stone siding. You should not
stand by and watch the powers that be suck off what good there is left in Rhea County only to
find yourself renting a low income subsidized government housing from none other
than...well, I'll leave that one up to YOUR imagination.
Below are some store closings that will effect YOU sooner or later.
1. Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide A company spokeswoman said the company hasn't
revealed which stores will be shuttered. It will let the stores that will close this fiscal year
know over the next month.
2. Eddie Bauer to close more stores - Eddie Bauer has already closed 27 shops in the first
quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet stores by the end of the year.
3. Cache closing stores - Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores
this year.
4. Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide The owner of retailers
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes will close about 150 underper-forming stores
this year. The company hasn't provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it
will offer that info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.
5. Talbots, J. Jill closing stores - About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be
shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close another 22
under-performing stores.
The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill, another chain it owns. The closures
will occur this fiscal year, according to a company press release.
6. Gap Inc. closing 85 stores - In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and
Banana Republic. The company said the closures - all planned for fiscal 2008 - will be
weighted toward the Gap brand.
7. Foot Locker to close 140 stores - In the company press release and during its conference call
with analysts today, it did not specify where the future store closures - all planned in fiscal
2008 - will be. The company could not be immediately reached for comment
8. Wickes is going out of business - Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of
its stores, Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for
bankruptcy protection last month.
9. Goodbye Levitz - The furniture retailer, which is going out of business. Levitz first
announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December. The
retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his first furniture store in Lebanon ,
PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to the forefront of the
furniture industry. The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay.
10. Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores - The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously
said it plans to close 82 stores by July 31. Today, it announced that it is closing another 23
under-performing stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific store closures.
Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are stores.
11. Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores The Walt Disney Company announced
it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores.
The exact number of stores acquired will depend on negotiations with landlords.
Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt
Disney in the news release said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in
the U.S. The press release didn't list those stores.
12. Home Depot store closings - ATLANTA - Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said
there were no plans to cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot Inc.
announced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and
housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees.
It is the first time the world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a
flagship store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based
company said the under-performing U.S.stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its
existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.
13. CompUSA clarifies details on store closings Any extended warranties purchased for
products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions.
Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be redeemed at any
time during the final sale. For those w h o h ave a gadget currently in for service with
CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9834177-7.html
14. Macy's - 9 stores -
15. Movie Gallery - 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy. The video
rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in
addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.
16. Pep Boys - 33 stores
17. Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have
inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be
dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000
postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work
force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar
stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in
Kansas. Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.
18. J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are scaling back.
19. Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an
effort to cut costs.
20. Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores
21. Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for
the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four under-performing Demo stores closed last May.
22. Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced
that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but
90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.
23. Bombay Company: The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay
Company stores. The company's online storefront has discontinued operations.
24. KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its
bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information
web site, and click on Press Information
25. Dillard's to Close More Stores Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing
under-performing stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the
company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close
another six under-performing stores this year.
rural communities, there was a day that there was only one road in and one road out of town.
People worked hard to scratch out a living and when times were hard, they just worked that
much harder never really knowing or understanding just what events were happening
elsewhere that effected them, as well as their livelihoods.
In today's modern age of communication there is absolutely NO excuse for people not being
aware of their surroundings. Sure, people can say "this is Rhea County and we all love Jesus"
and blah, blah blah...
However, the whole time most people are spouting out things like this and refusing to educate
their minds, it is no wonder why deviant, sneaky people get ahead. Hey, it doesn't seem to
matter very much as to how smart, dumb or just plain stupid a person can be. That doesn't
seem to matter. That is one big part that I simply cannot understand.
Let me ask you this: Back before we all had a weather man tell us what the weather was going
to be, just how did anyone know how to predict rain? Since weather patterns in the United
States generally travel west to east, would it be possible to look to the west and see a big black
thunder cloud and maybe, just maybe, think that rain was on the way? Remember, it has
always been said that a dumb chicken will drown looking up into a rain storm trying to figure
out just what in the heck was falling from the sky.
As Rhea Countians should know, there isn't much business at all in Rhea County when you
step back and actually take an objective look at things. If you were to magically pluck out all
the little "craft" stores in Dayton, take Morgan's furniture out of the equation and then
heaven forbid, Wal-Mart closes, just what would be left in Dayton? Rest assured that store
closings, mortgage foreclosures, high gasoline prices, the cost of an idiotic war on a state of
mind emotion such as "terror" sucking your money away, and a host of the trickle down
effects that can send YOU to the poor house.
With that in mind, we have tried to compile some business closings. This is a rather hard task
because it seems that everyday we hear of some sort of business closing. All of these closings
are probably no where near Rhea County, Tennessee but you must be much more savvy than
that. You must realize that there is indeed a domino effect and you will in all likelihood be the
last domino to feel the flop. Sadly as you find yourself worrying about debts and just trying to
get by you will also find yourself paying more and more police citations, etc., because police
departments owe you no general duty and are a tremendous source of money for a city. This
is not me saying this stuff, it is the courts. If need be, I can stop what I am doing now and find
the case laws and insert them within this article, but I choose not to. I suggest you not take
anyone's word but do what you need to do to make it through these trying times.
And as we watch these businesses go under, homes being foreclosed, vehicles being
repossessed just take a look around at all the NEW apartments going up in Dayton. These
apartments look nice in their pretty vinyl and fake mountain stone siding. You should not
stand by and watch the powers that be suck off what good there is left in Rhea County only to
find yourself renting a low income subsidized government housing from none other
than...well, I'll leave that one up to YOUR imagination.
Below are some store closings that will effect YOU sooner or later.
1. Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide A company spokeswoman said the company hasn't
revealed which stores will be shuttered. It will let the stores that will close this fiscal year
know over the next month.
2. Eddie Bauer to close more stores - Eddie Bauer has already closed 27 shops in the first
quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet stores by the end of the year.
3. Cache closing stores - Women's retailer Cache announced that it is closing 20 to 23 stores
this year.
4. Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide The owner of retailers
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes will close about 150 underper-forming stores
this year. The company hasn't provided a list of specific store closures and can't say when it
will offer that info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.
5. Talbots, J. Jill closing stores - About a month ago, Talbots announced that it will be
shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's stores. Now the company says it will close another 22
under-performing stores.
The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women's and J. Jill, another chain it owns. The closures
will occur this fiscal year, according to a company press release.
6. Gap Inc. closing 85 stores - In addition to its namesake chain, Gap also owns Old Navy and
Banana Republic. The company said the closures - all planned for fiscal 2008 - will be
weighted toward the Gap brand.
7. Foot Locker to close 140 stores - In the company press release and during its conference call
with analysts today, it did not specify where the future store closures - all planned in fiscal
2008 - will be. The company could not be immediately reached for comment
8. Wickes is going out of business - Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of
its stores, Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer that targets middle-income customers, filed for
bankruptcy protection last month.
9. Goodbye Levitz - The furniture retailer, which is going out of business. Levitz first
announced it was going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December. The
retailer dates back to 1910 when Richard Levitz opened his first furniture store in Lebanon ,
PA. In the 1960s, the warehouse/showroom concept brought Levitz to the forefront of the
furniture industry. The local Levitz closures will follow the shutdown of Bombay.
10. Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores - The owner of Zales and Piercing Pagoda previously
said it plans to close 82 stores by July 31. Today, it announced that it is closing another 23
under-performing stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific store closures.
Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55 are stores.
11. Disney Store owner has the right to close 98 stores The Walt Disney Company announced
it acquired about 220 Disney Stores from subsidiaries of The Children's Place Retail Stores.
The exact number of stores acquired will depend on negotiations with landlords.
Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt
Disney in the news release said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in
the U.S. The press release didn't list those stores.
12. Home Depot store closings - ATLANTA - Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said
there were no plans to cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot Inc.
announced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and
housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees.
It is the first time the world's largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a
flagship store for performance reasons. Its shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based
company said the under-performing U.S.stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its
existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.
13. CompUSA clarifies details on store closings Any extended warranties purchased for
products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions.
Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be redeemed at any
time during the final sale. For those w h o h ave a gadget currently in for service with
CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9834177-7.html
14. Macy's - 9 stores -
15. Movie Gallery - 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy. The video
rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in
addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.
16. Pep Boys - 33 stores
17. Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have
inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be
dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000
postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work
force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar
stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in
Kansas. Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.
18. J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot are scaling back.
19. Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an
effort to cut costs.
20. Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores
21. Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of strategic alternatives for
the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four under-performing Demo stores closed last May.
22. Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced
that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but
90 of these stores have performed poorly and also may close.
23. Bombay Company: The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay
Company stores. The company's online storefront has discontinued operations.
24. KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its
bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of store closings, go to the KB Toys Information
web site, and click on Press Information
25. Dillard's to Close More Stores Dillard's Inc. said it will continue to focus on closing
under-performing stores, reducing expenses and improving its merchandise in 2008. At the
company's annual shareholder meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close
another six under-performing stores this year.
| Store Closings: Symptoms of A Depressed Economy |
