Stein Mart files for bankruptcy and will close most of its 300 stores

[Demovictory9]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/business/stein-mart-bankruptcy/index.html

New York (CNN Business)Discount retailer Stein Mart has filed for bankruptcy and plans to close most of its nearly 300 stores.

The 112-year-old company blamed its failure on changing consumer habits and the pandemic, both of which "have caused significant financial distress on our business," Stein Mart CEO Hunt Hawkins said in a release on Wednesday. Like other retailers, its operations were severely hit after the pandemic forced temporary store closures in many states.
Stein Mart, a discount department-store chain, said it doesn't have "sufficient liquidity to continue operating in the ordinary course of business." As a result, it's permanently closing a "significant portion, if not all" of its brick-and-mortar stores with liquidation sales beginning immediately.
The company is also considering strategic alternatives, including the sale of its website and its intellectual property.

[Initech]

1. The retail apocalypse continues.

[Demovictory9]

2. it does. since Covid 19, when I'm in Steinmart, I'm one of only 2 or 3 women...

didn't seem sustainable, large department store with a few shoppers at at time.

[Botany]

3. Lots of factors in this death of retail but the Trump Virus is a real killer

n/t

[Initech]

5. Yes this shitty virus has really done us in. It really sucks.

[Botany]

7. One of my simple joys was going to a local restaurant and sitting outside and reading but

... that restaurant just had to close up permanently because of the Trump Virus.


A must read.

Here’s How to Crush the Virus Until Vaccines Arrive

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/opinion/coronavirus-lockdown-unemployment-death.html

[Initech]

12. Yeah I really miss going to my favorite brewpub right now.

I would go there and sit at the bar all the time. I knew most of the people who worked and drank there. Haven't been since March except for take out and some 6 packs of beer. I hate this so much.

[essme]

24. We never really liked our local bars here...but oh man it sucks to not go.

Even if it was once every month or two.

[Initech]

25. I have a lot of favorite local breweries where I live.

And I've been getting beer to go to support them, but it really sucks not to have a hang out spot right now.

[Bengus81]

4. But..but the Stock Market!!!! Have you seen it???

[lpbk2713]

6. The dominoes are falling.

It's one right after another.

Tell me Trump, you destroyer of worlds, is America great again?
Have you drained the swamp yet?

[machoneman]

11. Destroyer of worlds, for sure!

[Initech]

14. Trump is right about one thing:

We've won so much that I am completely sick of winning. Can we go back to the times when we weren't winning so much?

[Mopar151]

8. For what it's worth...

I've heard it said, that retail was 30%+ "overbuilt", and that was at the beginning of online shopping.

[machoneman]

9. Sad. By us, a cool little breakfast place with miniature trains on the counter top just folded.

As a kid long ago, another similar place was my favorite. Mom took us there during the week as it was mobbed on Sat/Sun. The train took your order (penned on a small menu sheet) and chugged into the kitchen. Later, it chugged out and stopped right by our numbered seats. Love it!

[Demovictory9]

21. There is a diner like that in southern cal but the train

Is on a track near ceiling..

[Celerity]

10. Now all the restaurants are Taco Bell

and all stores are Amazon online

[Initech]

15. I feel like we're eventually heading towards Idiocracy.

And there's just one giant Costco the size of Kansas that everyone goes to. I hear they have a great law school too!

[Celerity]

16. some might even say 'sprinting' with all the speed that the corpulent body politic is capable of

Brawndo Has Got What Plants Crave

[Initech]

18. But what are electrolytes? Do you even know?

[Celerity]

19. it is like a Rump presser

Joe: For the last time, I'm pretty sure what's killing the crops is this Brawndo stuff.
Secretary of State: But Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes.
Attorney General: So wait a minute. What you're saying is that you want us to put water on the crops.
Joe: Yes.
Attorney General: Water. Like out the toilet?
Joe: Well, I mean, it doesn't have to be out of the toilet, but, yeah, that's the idea.
Secretary of State: But Brawndo's got what plants crave.
Attorney General: It's got electrolytes.
Joe: Okay, look. The plants aren't growing, so I'm pretty sure that the Brawndo's not working. Now, I'm no botanist, but I do know that if you put water on plants, they grow.
Secretary of Energy: Well, I've never seen no plants grow out of no toilet.
Secretary of State: Hey, that's good. You sure you ain't the smartest guy in the world?
Joe: Okay, look. You wanna solve this problem. I wanna get my pardon. So why don't we just try it, okay, and not worry about what plants crave?
Attorney General: Brawndo's got what plants crave.
Secretary of Energy: Yeah, it's got electrolytes.
Joe: What are electrolytes? Do you even know?
Secretary of State: It's what they use to make Brawndo.
Joe: Yeah, but why do they use them to make Brawndo?
Secretary of Defense: 'Cause Brawndo's got electrolytes.

[matt819]

13. And yet...

People are expected to have 3-6 months of money to get them through a crisis. I don’t have any experience with stein mart, but my reaction is, fuck ‘em

[Phentex]

17. I never really understood that store...

all I know is most of the coupons were good ONLY on sale items. That made no sense to me. Of course, the few items I wanted weren't the ones on sale. And yet...wasn't the whole store like a markdown store anyway? I got some good stuff but it wasn't the kind of place I'd shop on a regular basis. I am not surprised it closed.

[Demovictory9]

20. I stopped by today..they were putting big sign up

"Everything 10% to 30% off". Yet it wasnt clear what was 30% off. Ended up looking at the usual clearance rack.

[Xolodno]

22. Sounds like they are going for complete liquidation.

Which means, they are probably over leveraged and were barely holding on in the first place.

[Demsrule86]

23. Fucking Trump...all those jobs lost. I loved Stein Mart too.