Mervyns to close it's clothing stores

[Ernesto]

"Of the chain's 149 stores, nine are in the greater Sacramento area, including one that opened about eight months ago in the new Florin Towne Centre on Florin Road."
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1322933.html

[Xithras]

1. No shock there

Mervyns has been circling the drain for the better part of the last decade. Their stores have all the quality and ambiance of a WalMart, only with higher prices. It's like Kohl's without the quality.

[Auggie]

2. Yeah, but any business closure of this scale is not good news

A lot of people depended on those jobs

[Xithras]

8. I agree, and I didn't say it wasn't sad. It's just not suprising either.

Mervyn's was killed by mismanagement. They're trying to point their finger at the economy or at the "squeeze" budget retailers are putting on midmarket department stores, but their argument doesn't hold up. Their financial problems have been in the news since the late 90's, and they started shuttering stores several years ago while the economy was still roaring. At the same time, other mid market retailers like Kohls were expanding.

A comparison between Mervyns and Kohls actually provides a great illustration of why Mervyn's is ending this way. Both companies started facing major competition from Walmart and Target in the mid to late 90's. Both saw a loss of their lower income customers, and both were faced with competition from stores that carried more inventory at lower retail price points. Mervyn's responded by trying to cut costs to improve margins and lower prices. The quality of their merchandise was reduced, staffing levels were cut, store maintenance was reduces, and renovations of existing facilities was almost eliminated. The prices dropped, but so did the quality of everything from the clothes they sell to the buildings they sell them in.

Kohls responded by going upmarket. They held their price point, maintained product quality and staffing levels, and implemented visual improvements to their stores to keep them modern, bright, and clean.

Mervyn's unofficially marketed themselves as being "a good alternative to" discount retailers. Kohl's markets itself as being "a superior option to" discount retailers. People will take the superior option every time.

Just down the freeway from me, there is a Kohl's and a WalMart right next door to each other. The Kohl's is doing fine, and the parking lot is crowded even in a recession like this one. The Mervyn's halfway across town is shuttering its doors. What's that tell you about the two competitors, who in theory should be targeting the exact same shopping audience?

[shanti]

18. mervyn's

i remember shopping there in the 80's for my 4 sons' school clothes. sad watching a longtime fixture of a store closing.

i wonder if kohl's will pick up the slack?

[EFerrari]

3. That's true. Sad. When my husband and I had young kids at home

in the 80s, we were so happy when we could buy at Mervyns. I used to go there with my dear mom in law. It's funny how you can bond to a brand. It was a big deal for us though, in those lean years.

I'm sorry for all the folks that will be out of work. :(

[mackerel]

4. The employees in Vallejo were shocked.

They were told just a couple of months ago that while many stores would close the Vallejo store would open. I'm on my way over there now to get in on the sales.

I remember when the Mervyn's came to town, I was about 17 and so excited to finally have a "department store" in town. In those days we had to drive 20 miles to the mall so having something close by and less expensive was fantastic. Many of the stay at home Mom's worked there part-time as their children got older.

Too bad, so sad.

[EFerrari]

5. Welcome to DU, mackerel.

:hi:

[mackerel]

7. Hi!

[xxqqqzme]

11. I, too, shopped there when my son was young,

They had the best teen boys department. He liked to go shopping for clothes when we went to Mervyns. I rarely bought him clothes at any other store.

[bliss_eternal]

14. Same here...

...very sad for those losing jobs. :)

I've wondered for some time when this may happen, though. They outsourced their credit dept. some time ago (India) and I knew that was the beginning of the end...well that and their bankruptcy a while back. I understand the credit dept. does excessive, aggressive collections, that's usually a sign of a company that's really fallen on hard times and is desperate for every dime.

[ourbluenation]

6. something like 80 - 90 % of their stores are in Calif.

this is bad.

[bama2008]

17. housing recessino has killed most businesses here

[LeftyMom]

9. And it was just looking like they'd got that area turning around.

They do NOT need another empty storefront at Florin and Stockton. :(

[bridgit]

10. We had some business out at the one in Santa Clara and it was sad...

Employees trundling about between pep-talk Merv Moments (there seemed like a dozen or so throughout the day) as they've known it was coming for some time...sad

[LeftyMom]

12. They haven't done any markdowns yet that I could tell.

I went in today thinking I could score some cheap Levis for LeftyKid, and the prices still weren't any better than across the street at Sears. The clearance clothes were something like 90% off, but all the ones I saw were for little kids. I didn't look at adult stuff, since I had the kid with me and he wasn't at his most patient. Other than jeans, socks and underpants, I didn't see much I would consider buying for him (their boys' shirts were all kinda faux-gangsta looking, which seems odd because I remember Mervyn's clothes as being kinda staid and on the preppy side when I was a young'n) which kind of explains why they're going under...

I read that the liquidators take over Nov. 1, so maybe the good deals will start then? Or maybe it'll be like when Linens and Things closed up, where the markdown prices still suck? :shrug: We shall see.

Oh well, if they don't move it all (and they'd have to be fairly aggressive with markdowns to beat the usual Christmas sales, especially this year when times are lean) it'll all show up at Ross, Big Lots, etc eventually, and I can get anything I actually want that way.

[Ernesto]

13. Probably, it ain't goning to happen.......

"bankrupt stores undergoing organized liquidation sales usually sell the best brands to discounters and closeout chains."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/10/17/financial/f115507D75.DTL

[mackerel]

15. I took the kids there and we got some great bargains.

I also heard that the Shoe Pavillion is now closing down. They stuff is 40% marked down.

[shanti]

19. ours had a

huge "clearance blowout" banner on both doors. it will be nuts here when the markdowns start!

[bama2008]

16. things going from bad to worse here in LA

[ailsagirl]

20. Huge bummer.

:(

[Ernesto]

21. Clearance starts today!

"There are a lot of things that have to take place between this afternoon at 5 p.m. and 10 a.m. tomorrow when the stores open," Schaye said shortly after Thursday's hearing.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/31/BUD113RH87.DTL

[Ernesto]

22. WRONG!!!

Just in! The sale starts tomorrow!
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1360832.html

[slackmaster]

23. I won't shed a tear for Mervyn's

A store manager there was very rude to me once, and I haven't set foot in one of their stores since then.

[davidinalameda]

24. the Meryvns here in Alameda closed before all this took place

not sure if they didn't renew their lease or the shopping center didn't renew it but there's a Kohl's coming in

the parking lot in the shopping center is filled pretty much every day

[mackerel]

25. They're closing Costplus here now.

[AsahinaKimi]

26. I was shocked when ..

Robinson's May went out of business. Also, Tower Records which had been in San Francisco for years.. Now..Mervyns? What's next Safeway? Yikes.. California is sure going though some tough times.