Retail Roundup: Tweeter Abruptly Closes, Nordstrom Pays $60,000 Penalty, More

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Tweeter abruptly closes, leaving employees in the cold — Electronics chain Tweeter, which first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2007, converted its case into a Chapter 7 liquidation Dec. 2, swiftly shutting its doors and axing more than 600 employees at 70 stores across the country days before the company was slated to close for good. The chain’s owner, New York-based investment firm Schultze Asset Management, shut down the retailer after paying off millions of dollars to the largest secured creditor, Wells Fargo. Still, plenty of loose strings need to be tied up: Employees are still owed at least one week’s pay in addition to the vacation time and bonuses they were promised, customers are unable to pick up merchandise they’ve already purchased, and the liquidators have yet to collect their paychecks. [Source: The Boston Globe]

Nordstrom pays $60,000 penalty — Nordstrom Inc. of Seattle has agreed to pay a $60,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that the retailer knowingly failed to report that its children’s hooded jackets and sweaters were sold with drawstrings at the hood and neck. As required by federal law, the chain should have reported the strangulation hazard to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission immediately. Although the drawstring garments were recalled, Nordstrom sold nearly 2,400 of them between November 2007 and December 2007. [Source: MarketWatch]

Cyber Monday proves to be second heaviest shopping day in online history — Although many e-commerce sites suffered technical difficulties on Cyber Monday, the $846 million consumers racked up in Internet sales made Dec. 1 the second heaviest shopping day in online retail history. Sales on the Monday following Thanksgiving last year totaled just $733 million. “Consumers are clearly responding positively to retailers’ aggressive online discounts,” says Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore Inc., the company that reported the figures. “This is an extremely encouraging development for retailers.” [Source: internetretailer]

Wal-Mart rolls out Green Jobs Council — Just weeks after Wal-Mart inked a deal to supply 360 Texas locations with wind power, the world’s largest chain took another step toward sustainability by launching the Green Jobs Council. “We believe that creating green jobs is essential to keeping the U.S. competitive in the global marketplace, said Leslie Dach of Wal-Mart. [Source: Wal-Mart]

Tags: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Retail Company, Nordstrom Inc., Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc., Retail, Sales Strategy, Sales, Danielle Novy

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tramky

12/04/08 | Report as spam

RE: Retail Roundup: Tweeter Abruptly Closes, Nordstrom Pays $60,000 Penalty, More

Do you remember what Paulson said a couple of months ago, during the panic over the financial crisis? And what others were saying as well? That this will be like another Great Depression, that the United States will see massive economic dislocation, loss of wealth, and unemployment levels that might hit 10% and higher.

Well, it's happening, folks, right before our eyes.

The bailout? A trillion dollars & more is having no effect except to fatten the accounts of executives and some employees in certain financial services companies. As for the rest of the economy, it is going to twist in the wind and fall under the weight of its rotting hulk for probably 2 or 3 years. Most of the actions taken by our esteemed financial leaders and the Congress of the Unites States are geared, in fact, to lengthening the economic malaise in this country.

And unlike the situation in the Great Depression of the 1930s, certain other countries--notably China--are acting in ways that will serve to further flatten the American economy. Why? Because the United States is fast becoming a second-rate nation in the world. We are taking on enormous Federal debt now while tax revenues are falling precipitously, are printing money faster than we can lay it into all the corporte and government hands reaching out for it, and corporations continue to downsize & offshore their operations.

I think we could see a Dow Jones Industrial index in the 6000s before long, and a complete collapse of the mortgage markets. In effect the value of the United States has dropped by half in a few months, our Federal government has taken on enormous, unpayable debt, and we are closer than we think to a writedown of Federal debt instruments like Treasury bonds. When that happens, all hell will break loose, and the Great Depression will seem like high times. Our financial leaders don't really know what they are doing--any reading of the events--particularly the non-results of the unprecedented Federal bailout attempts which were nothing except a quick raid on the Treasury by a very small number of corporate elites as orchestrated by Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson in the middle of the night on a couple of weekends-- of the last few months reveals that.

For the last year we've been told that the United States is NOT in recession. Then a couple of days ago it is officially reported by the government agency that determines such matters that the United States has been in recession FOR THE LAST YEAR, since December of 2007!

The fix is in, folks, the Treasury has been emptied, and YOU are going to lose your job, your house, your car and your American Express card. And we'll be speaking Chinese by 2020.