There’s gloom aplenty in store across Treasure Coast
January 9th, 2009 by Post StaffRetailers on Thursday reported dismal sales figures for December as even Wal-Mart Stores, one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy.
As merchants reported sales figures, confirming fears the holiday season was the weakest in four decades, the malaise cut through practically all areas from kitchen gadget stores to teen apparel retailers.
But the biggest surprise came from Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, which posted a smaller sales gain than what Wall Street expected and cut its fourth-quarter earnings outlook. “This suggests that the lower income group is feeling the pinch more than we thought and this is clearly reflected in the lower-than-expected numbers at Wal-Mart,” said Ken Perkins, president of research company RetailMetrics. “I think it says the economy is in more dire straits than we thought.”
Owners of mom and pop shops at the Treasure Coast malls didn’t mince words when describing their 2008 holiday season.
“Traffic was really slow,” said Morteza Shahheidari co-owner of Tiffany’s Tea & Crafts, a loose-tea and eclectic tea accessories gift shop that opened at the Indian River Mall in 2003. “It was really, really bad this year, much worse than last year, and it was bad last year.”
Steve Malley, owner of the Fanglastic Art kiosk at the Jensen Beach-based Treasure Coast Square mall, said his holiday sales were even worse than he expected.
“We’re going to be moving out of the mall because it’s really slow,” he said, as his lease ends in February. “It’s not even worth staying here anymore.”
Other merchants at both malls shared similar sentiments but declined to be identified fearing even slower sales.
Robyn Hankerson, a spokeswoman for the malls owned by Simon Property Group Inc. declined to discuss holiday sales and said mall managers would not discuss holiday traffic and sales at the region’s shopping hubs.
Hankerson did confirm the closure of the Bali Blue Surf Shop, Gap and RJ Gator’s at the Indian River Mall. In Jensen Beach, Hankerson said Whitehall Jewelers, Bijou Bijou and Bonnie’s Hallmark have shuttered.
“The recent store closings are not surprising given the challenging economic environment,” said Lynnette Lauria, Florida’s portfolio vice president of marketing for the Simon Property Group, in an e-mail.
Other big-box closures include Circuit City in Vero Beach and the Office Depot in Jensen Beach is scheduled to close in the coming weeks. Coffee behemoth Starbucks announced this summer it was closing locations at the Treasure Coast and Indian River malls, a location in Port St. Lucie at Becker Road and Florida’s Turnpike and stores in Stuart at U.S. 1 and Market Place and Southeast Ocean Boulevard.
Several retailers, however, debunked rumors they would be closing stores anchoring the Treasure Coast Square Mall and Indian River Mall.
Representatives from Macy’s, Dillard’s, JC Penney and Sears said there were no plans to close local stores, although Macy’s announced plans to close 11 stores nationwide, including its Palm Beach Mall store in West Palm Beach.
Rod Castan, state director of the International Council of Shopping Centers and vice president of the Courtelis Co. in Miami, said store closures is a result of retail over saturation after the housing boom.
“In many cases, there was too much building or duplication,” Castan said about having a Circuit City and Best Buy or Staples and Office Depot in close proximity to each other. “The general outlook for retailers is pretty challenging. Until we see more jobs growth and more consumers coming back to the make, it’s hard to see any improvement for them.
By Nadia Vanderhoof, TCPalm.com
Tags: art, bui, court, environment, holiday, holidays, housing, mom, property, roads, sale, sales, teen, teens, Turnpike, Wal-Mart
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