Recovery? We Have Tripled The Number Of Store Closings From Last Year...

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Did you know that the number of retail store closings in 2017 has already tripled the number from all of 2016?

Last year, a total of 2,056 store locations were closed down, but this year more than 6,700 stores have been shut down so far. 

That absolutely shatters the all-time record for store closings in a single year, and yet nobody seems that concerned about it.  In 2008, an all-time record 6,163 retail stores were shuttered, and we have already surpassed that mark by a very wide margin.  We are facing an unprecedented retail apocalypse, and as you will see below, the number of retail store closings is actually supposed to be much higher next year.

Whenever the mainstream media reports on the retail apocalypse, they always try to put a positive spin on the story by blaming the growth of Amazon and other online retailers.  And without a doubt that has had an impact, but at this point online shopping still accounts for less than 10 percent of total U.S. retail sales.

Look, Amazon didn’t just show up to the party.  They have been around for many, many years and while it is true that they are growing, they still only account for a very small sliver of the overall retail pie.

So those that would like to explain away this retail apocalypse need to come up with a better explanation.

As I noted in the headline, there are 20 different major retail chains that have closed at least 50 stores so far this year.  The following numbers originally come from Fox Business…

1. Abercrombie & Fitch: 60 stores
2. Aerosoles: 88 stores
3. American Apparel: 110 stores
4. BCBG: 118 stores
5. Bebe: 168 stores
6. The Children’s Place: hundreds of stores to be closed by 2020
7. CVS: 70 stores
8. Guess: 60 stores
9. Gymboree: 350 stores
10. HHgregg: 220 stores
11. J.Crew: 50 stores
12. JC Penney: 138 stores
13. The Limited: 250 stores
14. Macy’s: 68 stores
15. Michael Kors: 125 stores
16. Payless: 800 stores
17. RadioShack: more than 1,000 stores
18. Rue21: up to 400 stores
19. Sears/Kmart: more than 300 stores
20. Wet Seal: 171 stores

If the U.S. economy was really doing well, then why are all of these major retailers closing down locations?

Of course the truth is that the economy is not doing well.  The U.S. economy has not grown by at least 3 percent in a single year since the middle of the Bush administration, and it isn’t going to happen this year either.  Overall, the U.S. economy has grown by an average of just 1.33 percent over the last 10 years, and meanwhile U.S. stock prices are up about 250 percent since the end of the last recession.  The stock market has become completely and utterly disconnected from economic reality, and yet many Americans still believe that it is an accurate barometer for the health of the economy.

I used to do a Black Friday article every year, but I have ended that tradition.  Yes, there were still a few scuffles this year, but at this point the much bigger story is how poorly the retailers are doing.

So far this year, more than 300 retailers have filed for bankruptcy, and we are currently on pace to lose over 147 million square feet of retail space by the end of 2017.

Those are absolutely catastrophic numbers.

And some analysts are already predicting that as many as 9,000 stores could be shut down in the United States in 2018.

Are we just going to keep blaming Amazon every time another retail chain goes belly up?

What we should really be focusing on is the fact that the “retail bubble” is starting to burst.  In the aftermath of the last financial crisis, retailers went on an unprecedented debt binge, and now a lot of that debt is starting to go bad.

In fact, in a previous article I discussed the fact that “the amount of high-yield retail debt that will mature next year is approximately 19 times larger than the amount that matured this year”.  This is going to have very serious implications on Wall Street, but very few people are really talking about this.

Most stores try to stay open through Christmas, but once the holiday season is over we will see another huge wave of store closings.

And as individual stores close down, this will put a lot of financial pressure on malls and shopping centers.  Not too long ago, one report projected that up to 25 percent of all shopping malls in the entire nation could close down by 2022, but I tend to think that number is too optimistic.

The retail industry in the United States is dying, and the biggest reason for that is not Amazon.

Rather, the real reason why the retail industry is in so much trouble is because of the steady decline of the middle class.  The gap between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us is greater than ever, and we can clearly see the impact of this in the retail world.

Retailers that serve the very wealthy are generally doing well, and those that serve the other end of the food chain (such as dollar stores and Wal-Mart) are also doing okay.

But virtually all of the retailers that depend on middle class shoppers are really struggling, and this is going to continue for the foreseeable future.

Most American families are either living paycheck to paycheck or are close to that level, and these days U.S. consumers simply do not have much discretionary income to play around with.  More hard working Americans are going to fall out of the middle class with each passing month, and that is extremely bad news for a retail industry that is literally falling apart right in front of our eyes.

*  *  *

Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

America"s New "Trick" To Beat Black Friday Crowds: Wear Employee Uniforms

US shoppers’ lust for Black Friday bargains this year has reached absurd new levels, evidenced by a viral joke that morphed into a disturbing new trend to help shoppers beat Wal-Mart and other big box store crowds by disguising themselves as temporary holiday employees. It started when Twitter user @OverlyLiked announcing he would be selling his Walmart vest for $100.

“I’m selling this Walmart vest for $100,” he wrote. “Use it to skip the line during Black Friday. You can even walk in, grab what you want, and walk out."

I’m selling this Walmart vest for $100. Use it to skip the line during Black Friday. You can even walk in, grab what you want, and walk out????????‍??. pic.twitter.com/Q0UyDHUeU0

— 6"4 (@OverlyLiked) November 20, 2017

Although the tweet was reportedly meant as a joke, earning @OverlyLiked more than 30,000 retweets and almost 80,000 likes, it wasn’t long before he was being inundated with real requests to buy his shirt.

“The popularity of the tweet really did not surprise me… What shocked me was the news coverage of that,” @OverlyLiked told RT, explaining that apart from the bidders, he was also sought out by numerous media outlets covering the story.

Lol people really been trying to buy the Walmart vest. It was a joke i don’t even own a Walmart vest. pic.twitter.com/WFnhEAaNWZ

— 6"4 (@OverlyLiked) November 21, 2017

But @OverlyLiked’s disappointed would-be buyers didn’t need to wait long for other offers to materialize. It seems former and current Wal-Mart employees quickly caught on to the idea and began selling their own uniforms in earnest...

Going out for Black Friday?

Pick up this Walmart vest for $30!

Might be able to cut some lines. https://t.co/8P9MR1SPwz pic.twitter.com/vEsghCDX0K

— Fat Kid Deals (@FatKidDeals) November 21, 2017

Now I know them Walmart vest seemed like a good deal ,but I got these Best Buy joints going for $110 walk right in , skip the line , and take whatever you want !! pic.twitter.com/eVzML3RYbQ

— Teezy (@Jayteeezyyy) November 22, 2017

 

Walmart vest for sale ??80 dollars ..Walk right in ;Get what u want and walk right out on Black Friday ????????‍?? I"m willing to negotiate #FirstComeFirstServe pic.twitter.com/An9yHp275b

— benneth (@KennethRaw) November 20, 2017

 

While others went out looking for them,

If anyone works or has worked at Walmart and has an employee vest..please let me buy it. I’m tryna test something out black Friday.

— scythe (@FuckDae) November 22, 2017

Meanwhile, Walmart has apparently caught on to the hustle, and has asked its employees to “question” anyone they see wearing one of their vests, but whom they do not recognize.

this spread so fast that at the manager meeting today we were told that if we see anyone we don’t recognize on thursday/black friday wearing a walmart vest, to question them. ???????????????? https://t.co/IEA9CTFrkQ

— Emily Gould (@emg_emily) November 21, 2017

The American “Black Friday” tradition has intensified in recent years as big-box stores have sought to fend off the encroaching “Cyber Monday” when shoppers order all their items online - read Amazon - instead of trudging through massive crowds at Wal-Mart, Best Buy or any other retail mecca. Retailers typically open late Thursday evening, before the holiday has even ended, to offer massive bargains, prompting nationwide anarchy as dozens of stories and videos emerge of shoppers fighting one another for the cheapest deals on anything from blenders to widescreen TV’s to underwear. The insanity of Black Friday was perhaps encapsulated best by this meme that made the rounds a few years back:

 

One Person Shot Outside Mall, Brawl Closes Alabama Shopping Center As Black Friday Gets Going

A day after giving thanks, it appears the gentle folk of Missouri and Alabama are more about taking this morning...

One person was shot outside a Missouri mall as swarms of shoppers looking for Black Friday deals saw chaos pop up throughout the country.

As ABC17 reports, a 19-year-old person sustained life-threatening injuries after the shooting in the parking lot of the mall.

Mall policy stipulates no firearms are allowed inside of the building, but it"s unclear if that applies to the parking lot as well.

Officers said they could not confirm whether the shooting was accidental or deliberate.

Additionally,NY Daily News reports another shopping center in Alabama saw an outbreak of violence Thursday, with brawls shutting down a late-night session early.

Police in Hoover, outside Birmingham, broke up fights at the Riverchase Galleria outside Birmingham, with Al.com reporting that one person was treated for injuries by paramedics.

Social media video that appeared to be from the scene showed officers restraining two women amid scattered clothes and displays, though no information about arrests was immediately available.

Both the malls were closed after these events, but are set to reopen at 6 a.m. on Friday.

Dying Malls Increasingly Rely On Taxpayer Handouts For Survival

America"s dying malls have been a frequent topic of discussion of late as these relics of the 80"s have been forced to convert once valuable high-end retail square footage into grocery stores, libraries and doctor offices just to keep the lights on.  Here"s just a small sampling of the recent carnage:

• A Third Of All Shopping Malls Are Projected To Close As "Space Available" Signs Go Up All Over America


• America"s Desperate Mall Owners Turn To Grocers, Doctors & High Schools To Fill Empty Space


• Failing Malls Turn Empty Parking Lots Into Carnivals To Generate Cash

But, as Bloomberg points out today, one other funding source is increasingly emerging as a key financial sponsor in the efforts of commercial REITs to re-purpose their failing assets: taxpayers.

In Brookfield, Wisconsin, for example, the city is using tax-increment financing (TIF), a common tool for municipalities to subsidize development by putting property taxes from new projects into a fund that pays for building cost, to help rebuild the Brookfield Square Mall. Meanwhile, as if that weren"t enough, the city has also agreed to pay for remediation costs related an old Sears auto repair shop and to build a new convention center and hotel where the Sears once stood.

In this depressing landscape, there is at least one player still willing to take the risk: local governments hungry for tax revenues. Developers incorporating additions such as housing and parks in their plans are turning to public partners to help rehabilitate the aging retail meccas that dot the U.S. Public subsidies have been part of retail development for decades, but with landlords pouring billions of dollars into renovation to battle a wave of store closures, public-private partnerships are more urgent, and more fraught, than ever.

 

At the Brookfield Square mall in Wisconsin, the landlord, CBL & Associates Properties Inc., needed a new occupant for a fading Sears. CBL had been tinkering with the mix for the past few years. Earlier, in 2008, it completed a 20,000-square-foot expansion, adding grocery stores and restaurants and renovating the interior.

 

In the end, it found its tenant: the city of Brookfield.

 

The local government plans to step in to build a conference center and hotel. By creating a hub for small and medium-size conventions on 9 of the 29 acres currently occupied by Sears, the city hopes to boost CBL’s efforts to reinvent the property, the largest taxpayer in Waukesha County. The idea is a greater focus on entertainment, recreation and business, according to Daniel Ertl, director of community development for the city of about 38,000.

 

“The Sears store is really a shadow of what it used to be,” Ertl said. “We encourage CBL to continue to reinvent themselves. God knows where retail is going to be in 20 years.”

As Bayer Properties CFO, Jami Wadkins, who just secured all sorts of taxpayer-funded handouts to rebuild a failed mall in Alabama, points out, public funding is becoming an "important element of the capital stack of every developer."

These expansive developments often secure additional public financing through various forms of tax arrangements and incentives, as well as infrastructure spending for things like parking garages. Such funding has become an important element of the capital stack for every developer, according to Jami Wadkins, chief financial officer of Bayer Properties, a real estate company that develops and manages retail real estate.

 

In Birmingham, Alabama, Bayer worked with the city government to transform the site of the Pizitz, a historic department store that closed in 1987. The Pizitz, which Bayer bought as a vacant building in 2000, was in a rundown neighborhood that lagged behind the revival occurring in other areas of downtown.

 

Numerous plans ended up on the scrap heap before federal and state aid was secured to build a mixed-use community, which opened in 2016. The development houses 143 residential units -- now 90 percent occupied -- a co-working space, a food hall and retailers, including Alabama’s first Warby Parker.

 

The project cost was $70 million, including public and private funds. Bayer was able to obtain a low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as tax credits from the state. The city paid to refurbish the landscaping in the area, including the sidewalks and street lamps, according to Wadkins.

 

“If you can put a plan together for a city that doesn’t put the city at great risk, then they will invest with you,” Wadkins said. 

To conclude, perhaps no one summarized this lunacy better than Ronald Reagan who succinctly described the Government"s approach to economic affairs as follows:

"Government"s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

Malls are clearly now in the "subsidize it" phase of the Government"s economic plan.

Caught On Video: This Is All That"s Left Of Sears Canada

On October 11, we reported that the now defunct Sears Canada announced plans to liquidate its remaining 150 stores instead of restructuring, the latest admission of brick and mortar defeat in the war with Amazon, with the result some 12,000 job losses in the coming weeks. The Canadian version of Sears is the latest victim of department-store decline that’s swept North America as shoppers gravitate online. While the retailer has dabbled in pop-up stores and e-commerce, its distribution centers aren’t as automated as Amazon.com Inc. or even Canadian peer Hudson’s Bay Co., which last year opened its own robotic facility to accelerate online orders.

For thousands of soon to be unemployed Sears Canada workers and retirees the future of their pensions remains in limbo: Sears Canada has 18,000 retirees and beneficiaries whose monthly pensions its has to address. A motion was filed in August for a windup of the plan, which would require the company to pay the full C$266.8 million deficit, according to the filing. That motion has been postponed until at least Nov. 30.

There is also the question of what happens to all the local malls that suddenly find themselves without 150 anchor tennants. The Sears bankruptcy comes two years after Target"s liquidation left a hole in many of the country’s malls, which made it tougher for Sears Canada to find buyers for its real estate and leases.

What there is zero confusion about however, is what happens to liquidating stores once their employees - aware their termination is imminent - lose all interest in even pretending to keep up an appearance of normalcy.

The answer is shown in the following video from Vtography, which was taken in the Fairview Mall in Toronto on October 22, 2017, and which captures the chaos from a liquidation sale at, well, liquidating Sears Canada. All that"s missing from the post-apocalyptic scenes are the zombies.

Are Grocery Chains About To Join The Retail-Bankruptcy Bloodbath?

Amazon officially assumed control of Whole Foods Market on Monday and by noon, channel checks at WFM stores revealed that its new tech overlords had already slashed prices by nearly 50%, sending bonds of its grocery-chain rivals reeling as grocers confronted a new dilemma: either slash prices to the point of unprofitability, or hold the line and risk seeing sales evaporate.

And as bonds of even highly rated grocery chains have underperformed this week, Bloomberg is questioning whether the WFM acquisition has fundamentally changed market dynamics in what was previously an island of stability in a retail sector beset by bankruptcies.

Even before the WFM acquisition, the industry experienced the first signs of strain as Amazon launched its Amazon Fresh grocery service and Wal-Mart started stocking up on reasonably priced organics – factors that contributed to the massive drop in WFM’s market cap, allowing Amazon to scoop it up for less than $14 billion.

Prior to this, the conventional wisdom dictated that grocers were impervious to the onslaught of e-commerce that was decimating industries such as clothing and electronics. Investors reasoned that consumers would probably balk at buying perishable goods like food online.

But Amazon, with its seemingly infinite capacity to slash prices and brook losses, has created new risks for Whole Foods" rivals.

Apollo Global thought buying North Carolina-based Fresh Market for the “every day low price” of $1.4 billion would be a turnaround slam dunk after its success with Sprouts Farmers Markets. One year later, the future profitability of that deal is in doubt, and that uncertainty is being reflected in the price.

“The bonds that financed Apollo Global Management’s purchase last year of upscale grocer Fresh Market plunged to new lows this week. The cost of buying contracts to protect against a default in Albertsons Cos.’s debt has jumped. Bonds of Bi-Lo Holdings have lost almost half their value this year.”

When Apollo Global bought Greensboro, North Carolina-based Fresh Market for $1.4 billion last year, the grocery world seemed quite different. The chain, known for its fresh produce, had seen sales slow. To lure customers back to Fresh Market’s roughly 170 stores, the private-equity titan was betting it could rely on its experience with previous - and profitable - investments in companies such as organic grocer Sprouts Farmers Markets.

But Fresh Market is struggling for some of the same reasons that sent Whole Foods into the arms of Amazon. Mainstream competitors including Kroger Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have pushed deeper into sales of fresh produce and organic products. Supermarkets have opened so many stores that many analysts expect a shakeout. Before the Amazon deal, Fresh Market bonds traded as high as 91 cents on the dollar. Now they fetch less than 76 cents.”

The reason is simple: Amazon, which is insulated not only by its e-commerce hegemony but also by investors who don’t expect the company to turn a profit. One analyst aptly referred to this as the Amazon-Whole Foods "fear factor.”

“It’s the fear factor of Amazon,” said Mickey Chadha, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service. “No retailer can under-price as long as Amazon can, make no money and get away with it. That’s why people are scared.”

* * *

News of the Amazon deal obliterated billions of dollars of grocers’ valuations, slicing $2 billion off Kroger’s market cap in one day. The grocer’s stock is down 35% this year. Yet its bonds have held steady.

Meanwhile, nearly $3 billion in Albertsons bonds due in 2021 have tumbled..

“Kroger’s bonds, which are investment grade, haven’t been hit. But about $3 billion of Albertsons debt coming due in 2021 has felt a chill. The loans have been trading at 97.6 cents on the dollar. Large, liquid, secured loans of that size typically command par, or 100 cents. A public stock offering for the Cerberus Capital Management-backed grocer was again put on hold after Amazon announced its purchase of Whole Foods.”

...causing the cost of insuring them to skyrocket.

As one might expect, analysts now believe that large chains with relatively low debt burdens will somehow manage to survive.

But smaller chains like Bi-Lo Holdings may soon find that their debt burdens are untenable:

“For example, Bi-Lo Holdings has borrowed hundreds of millions to make cash payouts to private-equity owner Lone Star Global Acquisitions. One of the bonds the company sold to pay the dividends now trades at levels indicating investors expect to recoup only a third of what they loaned the company.”

Tops Friendly Markets, another troubled grocer, is being choked by its $720 million debt pile.

“Tops Friendly Markets, which is reporting millions in losses, is straining under $720 million in debt. Using a maneuver typical of distressed companies, it put off repayments due in 2018 while it grapples with price deflation and traditional rivals in its western New York home turf. If earnings and the balance sheet don’t improve, investors holding the rest of Tops’ bonds could find they’re stuck with spoiled goods.”

However, there"s at least one factor that may insulate the market"s weaker hands, at least for a little while. There are 40,000 grocery stores in the US, only 400 of which are WFMs...

So, should investors be bracing for a wave of grocery bankruptcies resembling this year’s record run of failures among department stores, apparel sellers and electronics retailers? Maybe not right away. But once Amazon"s had a few years to expand its footprint, a massive shakeout seems inevitable.
 

Chinese Corporate Financials Continue Disturbing Trend Of Deterioration

Authored by Bryce Coward via Knowledge Leaders Capital blog,

Highlighting the deteriorating trend in Chinese corporate financials has been an annual feature our of this blog. This year, instead of looking at just the CSI 300 constituents, we chose to broaden our universe by using the FTSE All A Share Index, an index of about 2000 Chinese A shares. This should give us the most accurate read on the state of corporate China.

For at least the last decade Chinese corporations have levered up, both through debt and working capital, in an attempt to keep the music playing and without regard to stability or profitability. As we will see, 2016 was no different. As an aside, all of the data in this post show aggregated (summed up) metrics for all non-financial companies. For example, sales growth numbers show the sum total of 2016 non-financial constituent sales relative to the sum total of 2015 non-financial constituent sales. Aggregating the data in this way gives us a good top down view without having to control for outlier companies that may be small and irrelevant.

Starting with the balance sheet, one constant characteristic of Chinese corporate behavior has been their willingness to lever up. There are a number of ways to measure leverage, but one of our favorites is net debt as a percent of equity. From 2005-2016 net debt as a percent of equity increased 126%. From 2015-2016 along it increased by 13% to 143%, the highest on record. Meanwhile debt as a percent of capital ticked up again to 63% in 2016 – also the highest reading on record – while cash as a percent of total capital fell to its lowest ever reading of 9%. Luckily, financial leverage (assets relative to equity) remained constant at an egregiously high 6.9x.

Moving on to some ratios of working capital metrics as a percent of sales, we can see that 2016 was just a continuation of an alarming decade-long trend of Chinese companies gutting corporate efficiency to finance sales. From 2005-2016 accounts receivable as a percent of sales has increased 173%, accounts payable as a percent of sales has increased 73% and inventory as a percent of sales has increased 86%. All three metrics increased to an all-time high in 2016.

Building up one’s working capital could be a strategy to manage exploding top line growth, but unfortunately that is not the case for Chinese companies. Sales and net income haven’t grown since 2014 and net income actually contracted in 2016. Cash flow from operations also fell 18% for the largest year-on-year contraction since at least 2006. Plunging cash flow is an indication that the earnings decline of 1% could be painting too rosy a picture.

This brings us to something we like to call Chinese channel stuffing – or the tendency of corporate China to stuff the supply chain with accounts receivable and accounts payable so as to keep sales/sales growth at the desired level. Since 2012 both current liabilities and current assets have outpaced sales growth by between 2%-10% annually. In 2016 both metrics outpaced sales growth by 6%. This is to say, in order for corporate China in aggregate to have generated flat sales in 2016, they needed to grow working capital by 6%. In order for corporate China to have generated flat sales for two consecutive years they needed to grow working capital by a cumulative 16%.

The good thing is that, if you can believe the earnings and cash flow numbers, margins have remained relatively healthy. Net profit margins have remained at the historical average of 8% while cash flow margins stood at a robust 27% in 2017.

But, flat margins and growing balance sheets make for deteriorating profitability stats. In 2016 ROE dropped to an all-time low of 9%, ROA dropped to 5% and ROIC dropped to an all-time low of 4%.

There unfortunately are not a lot of positive things to say about the trends in corporate China. Much of the above is of course driven by SOEs at the behest of the government, but that doesn’t make the trends look any better. No one knows what the tipping point is and how long this can continue, but it goes without saying that we’d like to see these firms align the growth of their balance sheets to the growth of their income statements as soon as possible.

Will Whole Foods Be Amazon's Waterloo?

Authored by Mark St.Cyr,

Although the Battle of Waterloo means different things to different people, one of the more widely held meanings it’s come to represent is something along the lines of a battle that one side held certain of victory, only to not only be beaten, but then lose everything they had fought for to begin with. This is what ended Napoleon, but it wasn’t for that he had no plan. On the contrary, he just believed his plan wouldn’t fail. That plan was: isolate, and annihilate, each army separately. (e.g., the Allied and Prussian armies.)

If you interchange “armies” for “business sectors”, Amazon’s strategy over the last few years seems much aligned. i.e., War against big-box retail, then all retail, media, spacecraft, and now – retail food shopping. I am of the opinion Amazon™, much like Napoleon, are going to find this battlefield has far more challenges that may end up costing them far more dearly, than they ever bargained for. Here’s why…

Unbeknownst to most, when it comes to the perishable food segment, the regulations and more (i.e., meat, dairy, et cetera) that allow what we American’s take for granted when it comes not only to variety, but for the safety and assured wholesomeness that our food supply is – it’s unlike anything most retailers outside of the industry have ever encountered. Let alone understand.

The ones whom find it the most difficult to acclimate to; are those who are all ready in the retail business (think: department store mentality) and believe it’s all just a case of applying what they know, or what they perceive as “what they know”; and switch it out using a shelf full of, let’s say toys, for a shelf full of steaks, as an example.

Many believe the only difference (an assumed difference) is that one shelf is refrigerated, yet, all the rest is the same. i.e., You have a product, a price, a label, a way to accept money for it, and a place to store back-stock. Sounds easy-peasy right? And that’s the problem, it sounds like it. But it’s anything but in the real world.

The reasons why I know this to be true is because this was the industry I made my marks in. i.e., The meat industry. And when it comes to what Amazon is going to have to contend with going forward I can speak directly to that because (using a hypothetical) when Amazon will be looking to make “deals” or “set up a supplier”, I would be the one on the other-side of the table they would need to negotiate through. And yes, I’ve actually done it, at that level. So I know intimately what I’m talking about, which is why I’m making this case.

This isn’t going to be the first time some retail behemoth decided they were going to get into the “food” market and show the industry a thing or two on how “they” believed the complex should run. It’s been done before, only to have their management sent packing arse-in-hand, shell-shocked, and mumbling for days, “WTF just happened there? Don’t they understand who we are?!” I’m referring to Walmart™ and their initial foray into groceries.

At about the turn of Y2K Walmart entered into the “supermarket” business with gusto. At the time they were gaining quite the reputation for negotiating (more like strong arming or bullying) food suppliers. (think “prepared” like: canned, or boxed product, sodas, etc., etc.) And when they were through – they set their crosshairs on the fresh meat suppliers. (think: steak, chicken, et cetera.) And it was here where they heard what seemed for the first time in response to their: “You’ll do it our way, and at our price, or no way!” demands. That response?

“Take a hike, a don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Oh, and welcome to the meat business.”

The meat industry was the only industry that (at least to my knowledge) sent Walmart reeling with no way for recourse other than to deal on meat industry terms and pricing. In other words Walmart’s “size” or “buying power” wasn’t a dominating factor that could gain leverage for discount. In fact – it could actually work against them, something considered unfathomable to its product buyers. I’ll give you a quick example to help clarify.

If a company wants to purchase 1mm widgets they can find a factory that already has supply with excess inventory if needed (or can ramp up) and negotiate a price. Simple construct for this example. Now: want to buy 1mm pounds of meat?

If there’s some available on the spot market, fine. If not? What are you going to do – make it?

You can – but – that takes well over a year. And here’s the other key – 1mm pounds how often? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? And if you begin buying all the “spot” available? Guess what? Prices may go up for you – and not your competition. For your competition may already be locked into long-term contracts. And what can be even more baffling to the uninformed is this: All your competitors will have it, as in product – and you won’t. Maybe at any price.

Again, it’s a different business. And in the end it took them (Walmart) years with a lot of painful trial and errors as to try to innovate pricing and suppliers for differentiation. Today, if you look at meat prices from their cases comparing to any other (in my opinion) they’re basically right in line with any other national retailer. You don’t see any “WOW!” type price discrepancies unless, it’s a sale item.

The above thumbnail sketch is important, because it will help explain why this, Whole Foods™/Amazon merger might come into resistance not only from the competition, or suppliers. But also – from its existing customer base.

Whole Foods (WF) has garnered the moniker “whole-paycheck” for as long as I can remember, and with good reason. As I stated, being in the food industry for most of my career, when I walk around any supermarket, it’s with a far different eye than most, especially when it comes down to pricing. And WF has never ceased to amaze me.

I am always stunned (again, all my opinion) at the prices being paid by its customers. But there’s a reason for this. And it’s not what most people think. The reason why people pay those exorbitant prices is because of what they deem as some form of “exclusivity” shopping there gives them. e.g., They are showing they can afford it.

Sure, some may say the ambience is better than most other national stores (although I would argue today, that’s far from true) and there’s certainly a different product selection than others. But that’s everywhere. But where the rubber-hits-the-road (i.e., the meat department) all I’ll say too that is: I go “WOW!!!” But not for the reasons WF would like. Which brings me to my point.

WF customers aren’t buying there because of some form of pricing structure that lends itself to discounting. In actuality – it’s the exact opposite.

There are now multiple competitors surrounding many a WF that offer the same type of “wholesomeness” implied by shopping there. One example that’s in my own area is called FreshThyme™ (FT), and I’ll use them to demonstrate my point using a friend of my wife.

Her friend shops WF, but within the last year FT opened here less than 2 miles away from her recently opened WF about a year prior. My wife took her around the store where she purchased similar items as her go-to store. But this time her bill was noticeably cheaper. And I mean much, as in even she was quite surprised. Did she switch? Has she been back there again? Answer: No. And here’s where you begin to understand where I’m going.

Why hasn’t she? Is it because she doesn’t “need” or care to save money? Again, the price differences were not nickel and dimes, but rather, dollars on many items. Was it the “2 miles away” that did it, because we’re all such creature of habit? The answer again is no, because she doesn’t even live in this town, she actually lives some 20 miles outside. But location is the key. And here’s why…

The new WF was built in what is known in my area as “Easton.” It is a very exclusive retailing area. To give you an idea, if you’re walking around the shops and suddenly you have an impulse to buy a Tesla™ after your dinner at Smith & Wollensky™, you can do just that by crossing the walkway. And if you want to celebrate that with some one-of-a-kind key ring? Tiffany™ is right there to accommodate you along with many others. All within a manageable stroll – even if you’re in heels.

Why this is important is this: You are not going to gain market share, or customers, via the discounting model. It just doesn’t work that way to this clientele. And that is an “Achilles heel” to any management team coming from a “race to the bottom” pricing model, which Amazon is. And that leads to the following for consideration.

What advantages does Amazon bring to the WF concept model? Pricing? Management? Logistics? I would argue they aren’t relevant. And actually, the mindset of current senior management at both companies are in for a culture shock that will surely be epic. Imagine the meetings that will be discussed (as in shouting matches) on why reducing prices doesn’t work, or not spending money for a key display in an effort to cut costs, not understanding (or listening to reasoning) that reducing the display purely for “cost” might reduce actual sales.

I’ve seen it happen, and I know how they turn out. All I’ll say is this: not good.

Walmart was a different animal, for they already had brick and mortar stores – adding on a grocery store to existing models was (for lack of a better term) a natural fit. But it has been anything but the slam dunk many first envisioned. Especially Walmart itself.

WF is different, for it is a stand alone market. It has to fight to get (let alone retain) every customer into its store for a specific purchase. There’s no “We’ve got TV’s, and furnishings over here, toys over there. Oh, and now you can shop for groceries also!” e.g., There is no other reason to go to WF than to buy at WF. And they don’t go there because it’s cheaper than the competition, far from it.

If the culture of Amazon doesn’t mesh properly with the now management of WF the resulting missteps that may send customers once loyal elsewhere to shop alternatives (and they’re everywhere) could unfold faster than a next day delivery. And if you’re looking for further clues of where such missteps can happen, look no further than what is currently unfolding at the Washington Post™.

Again, this is the type of “culture shock” that typically takes place when an “outsider” comes in, and its management team (along with style) tries to impose what it now deems as “policy” going forward. More often that not the backlash that result over time begins to cripple the management of both. This WF deal could add to that already mixing cauldron.

Maybe the best indication of where this might all be going comes from none other than what is surely this whole war’s leading general. e.g., Rodney McMullen, CEO of Krogers™. To wit:

“Whole Foods is a ‘good fit’ for Amazon.”

I believe Wellington said something similar as he watched Napoleon deploy his troops. But that’s pure speculation.

"Major Deflationary Disruption" Looms After Amazon Purchase Of Whole Foods

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Amazon bought Whole Foods yesterday. Widespread carnage in the grocery stock prices followed. Jim Cramer called it a major deflationary disruption saying stores cannot compete.

“If I was the Federal Reserve, I would have a meeting on this. Inflation is going to go down…. You have to rethink food … Costco knows how to compete. It will be in there tooth and nail with toilet paper and paper towels. … But Kroger, a crisis in Cincinnati, crisis.”

“Major Disruption of Society”

SupplyChain247 reports Amazon’s Move to Purchase Whole Foods Is ‘Disruption of Society’

TheStreet’s Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer said Amazon’s move to acquire Whole Foods is a disruption of society, “this is what I regard to be a move by Amazon to destroy the margins and own the business of food and groceries in this country,” Cramer said.

With Amazon putting down $13.7 billion to buy Whole Foods, Bezos is sending a powerful message to his retail rivals;

• Food suppliers will now be dealing with an even larger grocery store, meaning potentially pressured profit margins for organic players such as Hain Celestial.


• Amazon officially shows intent to enter bricks-and-mortar retail in a larger way than just bookstores. Combine that with its unmatched digital presence, Walmart, Target and others have been put on notice.


• Grocer stores like Kroger will now be in an even bigger price war.


• Amazon Prime integrated into Whole Foods could hurt Costco over time. Many Costco members are also Prime members.

“What Amazon did to the mall, it will now do to grocery stores,” said Cramer.

Here is a Tweet to think about:

Amazon did not just buy Whole Foods grocery stores. It bought 431 upper-income, prime-location distribution nodes for everything it does.

— Dennis K. Berman (@dkberman) June 16, 2017

Mall Tenants Seek Shorter Leases As America's Relics Of The 80's Teeter On The Brink

As if things weren"t bad enough for America"s mall owners, what with the having to filling their retail space with high schools, grocers and churches, it seems that retailers have grown so uncertain about the future of these 1980s relics that they"re only willing to sign 1-2 leases these days.

As Bloomberg points out this morning, leases renewals used to be 5-10 years in length but are increasingly only being signed with 1-2 year terms.  Meanwhile, thousands of stores are closing each year and it"s only expected to get worse over time.

After more than a dozen bankruptcies this year contributed to thousands of store closures, visibility for the industry is so poor that retailers are pushing for lease renewals as short as a year or two -- down from five to 10 years.

“You’re certainly seeing the renewals geared toward the shorter term, rather than the five-year renewal,” said Andrew Graiser, head of A&G Realty Partners. Retailers are now struggling to figure out how many stores they actually need, he added, and landlords are looking at them “with a much closer eye than they did before.”

Somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 stores will close in the U.S. this year, said Garrick Brown, vice president of Americas retail research for commercial broker Cushman & Wakefield -- more than twice as many as the 4,000 last year. He sees this figure rising to about 13,000 next year.

“Everyone’s trying to figure out where the bottom of the market’s going to be,” Brown said. He estimates it could occur in 2018 or early 2019.

Not surprisingly, retailers are finding it difficult to sign long-term leases in an environment where 26% of malls around the country are expected to close their doors over the next five years.

Further complicating the lease-length dilemma is the question of which shopping centers will still be around in a decade. Cushman & Wakefield’s Brown sees about 300 of 1,150 U.S. malls shutting down in the next five years.

Perry Mandarino, senior managing director and head of corporate finance at B. Riley & Co., predicts that retail bankruptcies and restructurings will further accelerate in 2018. Some of this will be the result of a long-overdue shakeout of the surfeit of U.S. store space, but the downturn is also compounded by shifts to online shopping and consumers spending on experiences rather than physical stuff, he said.

Meanwhile, landlords are trying to fight back, though it"s a fairly difficult task both arms tied behind their backs.

Landlords “have their backs against the wall, so they’ve been fighting back, hard,” he said. “What you have is a game of chicken up to the end.”

“With all this excess inventory, landlords are trying to do whatever they can to keep malls occupied,” Agran said. “The more empty spaces, the more difficult it is to attract new tenants.”

Frankly, it"s shocking that Abercrombie wouldn"t jump at the opportunity to scoop up some prime square footage in this mall...it already has the Chili"s awning and everything.

The Marlboro Red Consumer Sentiment Indicator

After last earnings season I noted without a strong rebound in consumer spending, I expect aggregate earnings growth to slow later this year (especially if declining energy prices cause credit to tighten). While asset inflation remains unchecked, consumer spending does not appear to be responding or accelerating. Two consumer companies on my possible buy list announced earnings this week – both suggest the operating environment remains challenging.

Casey General Stores (CASY), the convenience store operator, reported results on Monday with sales and earnings that were less than expected. Specifically EPS declined to $0.76 from $1.19 during the quarter and $4.48 vs. $5.73 for the year. During the quarter, same-store fuel gallons declined -0.5%, while grocery same-store comps increased 1.5% and prepared food/fountain comps were up 3.2%.

Management noted that similar to others in its sector, Casey’s “experienced downward pressure on customer traffic which had virtually impacted same-store sales across all of our categories.” Management blamed decelerating customer traffic on the weak agricultural economy, the difference in food away and food at home prices, and competitor promotional activities.

Management commented further on the agriculture economy saying, “The USDA anticipates either a flat to slightly declining farm income in calendar 2017. So we’d anticipate this piece of the challenging environment to continue to at least to the end of the calendar year.”

Labor costs were also discussed, with management calling labor very tight and wage pressures challenging. I thought the following comment was interesting, “It’s not uncommon for people to jump ship for $0.25 raise here and there, and so that has been a challenge.”

One of my favorite economic reports, the Marlboro Red Consumer Sentiment Indicator (MRCSI), was mentioned again this quarter and continued to suggest the consumer remains cautious.

Management commented, “I mean one of the things that we faced in the cigarette category, we do see, albeit it’s gradual but it’s been continuing for the next several quarters, a movement away from carton to pack purchasing. We’ve also seen it moving away from full value purchasing to a more discounted brand, which could be a generic brand.”

And finally, management had some interesting comments on their fiscal 2017 expectations versus actual results. Management explains, “…there’s no question that when we put our goals out for fiscal 2017, I’m not sure we fully anticipated the customer response, the consumer response I should say in relation to the economic conditions.” Management went on to note they are taking economic conditions into account more this year than they did last year.

Although Casey’s stock declined 8% on the news, trading at 18x EV/EBIT, it continues to trade over my estimated business valuation. Casey’s is one of the many high-quality companies I follow and like, but in my opinion, remains too expensive to generate future adequate absolute returns. Hence, it remains on my possible buy list, but not in my portfolio.

United Natural Foods (UNFI), the distributor of natural and organic foods, also announced earnings results this week. Although results appeared as expected, annual sales guidance was revised lower and its stock declined -4%.

Management noted the grocery environment remains challenging (side note: Isn’t it interesting restaurants often blame grocery stores for taking market share, yet grocers continue to struggle? Maybe it’s not where the consumer is spending, but how much the consumer has to spend).

Specifically, management stated,

“Net sales finished below our expectations in the third quarter driven by broad-based retail softness, the rationalization of business in conjunction with our margin initiatives and lack of inflation.”

“Same-store sales in many of our retail customers were under pressure or negative during the quarter. Our retail customers are facing competitive pressure not only from other food retailers but also from many channels now carrying assortment of better-for-you products.”

“…when you look at general same-store sales and year-over-year, quarter-over-quarter, many of the retailers across most of the channels are facing some real headwinds in terms of growth. And as part of that, we’ve seen certainly a fair number of store closings as retailers are coming together. And so in the near term, that’s been a real headwind for us.”

Kroger reports next week, hopefully providing us with more useful grocery and consumer data points. That said, for those waiting for the consumer to get the U.S. economy out of its 1-2% growth funk, further patience may be required. From a bottom-up perspective, I’m not seeing it.

Failing Malls Turn Empty Parking Lots Into Carnivals To Generate Cash

It should come as no surprise that America"s malls, the wonderlands of the 80s, are in big trouble.  After slowly losing market share to online competition for years, brick-and-mortar retailers have finally succumb to changing consumer habits which has resulted in a massive surge in bankruptcies and store closings.

Of course, as we"ve pointed out before, mall owners have tried just about everything to fill their empty spaces including the addition of grocery stores, doctors" offices and even high schools. 

But while most mall owners have been trying to figure out how to fill up the inside of their stores, they apparently overlooked another very "valuable" asset:  their empty parking lots.

With customer traffic sagging, U.S. retail landlords are using their sprawling concrete lots to host events such as carnivals, concerts and food-truck festivals. They’re aiming to lure visitors with experiences that can’t be replicated online -- and then get them inside the properties to spend some money.

“Events draw people to come to the shopping center,” said Keith Herkimer, whose company, KevaWorks Inc., is working with big landlords including GGP Inc. and Simon Property Group Inc. to produce outdoor events. “They generate revenue for the owner and offer a chance for cross-promotion, so they can try and drive more customers into the stores.”

The idea, obviously, is to attract customers for experiences that can"t be replicated online with a focus on everything from movies nights to carnivals.

Retail landlords have already made a push toward experience-driven offerings by adding restaurants, movie theaters and activity centers for children. Many malls are also adding rotating stores around for only a short time -- known as pop-up shops -- that are meant to attract young customers who see shopping as an event.

Now, events are reaching beyond the malls themselves. Herkimer’s task is to bring crowds to parking lots with events that generate as much as $60,000 a week for mall owners from the largest outdoor events.

The idea is gaining traction. Next month, Simon Property is having the first carnival in its Round Rock Premium Outlets parking lot, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Austin, Texas. Similar events are being held for the first time at locations such as Central Mall in Port Arthur, Texas, managed by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., and a Cheyenne, Wyoming, mall owned by CBL & Associates Properties Inc. In July, Simon Property’s Orland Square Mall, southwest of Chicago, will be holding its first parking-lot food-truck festival, with plans for live music performances, Herkimer said.

Meanwhile, REIT investors are finally starting to understand that while carnivals may help to pay the electricity bills of America"s malls they do little to help generate a return on the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of retail square footage that lies empty inside the stores.