Grocery Store

For this week's blog, we were told to go to a retail store and analyze its location, parking, etc.

I chose the Harris Teeter in my hometown which is Burlington.  There is only one Harris Teeter in Burlington and it is located at the intersection of the two busiest streets in Burlington.  It is located in a large building that has other stores attached, so I guess it would be considered a shopping center. It is a shopping center because it shares CAM costs with the other retailers and a well thought out assortment of retailers.

There happens to be a TJ MAXX next door, Anna's Linens, a party store, three restaurants, an ice cream shop, a Verizon store, a jewelry store, a nail salon, and a dry cleaners.  This assortment of retailers can provide shoppers with a convenient experience.  They can eat, drop off their laundry, buy some groceries and things for the house, and pay their cell phone bill all in one trip.  The shopping center also offers a very large parking lot so that there is rarely a completely full lot.  It also offers great visibility from the road, with two entrances from the main roads.

Blog 4

Claire's is a retailer that sells accessories such as jewelry, cosmetics, hair accessories, purses scarves and shoes.  It also offers ear piercing services.  As you could imagine, this is a very popular concept aimed at tweens.  Claire's stores are located in malls across America with some 18,000 employees.  They have done pretty good business in the past.

However, with the way that the economy has been in the past few years, sales have plummeted and the company has gone into substantial debt.  The famous private-equity firm, Apollo Management tried to save the company by buying it out for a hefty $3.1 billion in 2007.  They thought the market's status would improve but it didn't.  Now Claire's has followed another company, Linens 'N Things, which happens to be another Apollo company, and filed bankruptcy.

Sources:

Newman, Rick. "15 Companies That Might Not Survive 2009." U.S. News and WorldReport 6 Feb 2009 4 Mar 2009 <http://www.usnews.com/mobile/blogs/flowchart/2009/2/6/15-companies-that-might-not-survive-2009.html>

McCracken, Jeffrey and O'Connell. "Wave of Bankruptcy Filings Expected From Retailers in Wake of Holidays." The Wall Street Journal 12 Jan 2009 6 Mar 2009