JCPenney’s revenue for 2018 was down significantly. Nine of the closures that year were of its home and furniture locations. JCPenney has been bleeding employees and stores since 2014. No word on how many jobs were lost that year. JCPenney picked up a new CEO last year, Jill Soltau.
Soltau’s efforts to turn the debt-heavy department store chain around include getting out of appliance sales and focusing on apparel. While appliances have been expected at stores like JCPenney and Sears, the $4.2 billion debt needed to be relieved somehow. Cutting 2,200 jobs and closing a total of 8 stores, as it did in 2018, also lowers costs. After 117 years of retailing, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men may not be able to restructure JCPenney again.
Guitar Center
Guitar Center has been in business since the 1970s. The company’s been building and refurbishing its stores and adding brand-new Guitar Center locations. Most conspicuously, it refurbished its flagship Hollywood store, spending $5 million on the project.
In 2018 there were rumors of Guitar Center falling victim to the bulk-bankruptcy fate of so many other retailers were unfounded. The company’s $1 billion debt triggered the rumors, but it was able to renegotiate those loans. CEO Ron Japinga said there were a few years when the company was “kind of going sideways.” But, the CEO said, “We’ve got a clearer vision of what we’re here for... [and, the company has] really started to turn the corner.”
Toys “R” Us
Toys “R” Us is a vastly different story. Chock-full of doom and demise, this company dove off the precipice to a savage end, exploding in balls of fire visible from space. Toys “R” Us is the third largest retail bankruptcy ever. The mega-toy store crashed and burned under $5 billion worth of debt.
It was an ugly ending. Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017. All did not go well. In 2018 the company announced it would close all 800 of its stores, liquidating 33,000 jobs. We’re going to miss that adorable giraffe. In 2021 the two last remaining stores closed their doors.
A’GACI
Two days before Kiko filed for bankruptcy, A’GACI slipped over the brink. On January 9, 2018, the trendy-chic fashion apparel company filed to reorganize. For girls and young women (and, yes, millennials who self-identify as female), there is a light at the end of A’GACI’s tunnel. By August 2018, the company reemerged with a plan to maintain business as usual, much to its customers' delight.
Affordable fashion, always on-trend, became available at all 27 of its existing locations. As the chain used to offer 76 brick-and-mortar options, it’s a pretty big hit; however, David Won, A’GACI’s Chief Merchandising Officer, was optimistic.
Fred’s Pharmacy
Fred’s is a bargain pharmacy that used to give dollar stores and Walmart a run for their money. The Tennessee-based company has been in business for more than seven decades. Recently, CVS purchased Fred’s three specialty pharmacy stores, and they say they have plenty of other non-core assets to sell.
Several hedge fund companies increased their investment in the pharmacy, signaling Fred’s may avert a bankruptcy filing. Royce & Associates, a large institutional investor, picked up almost 2 million shares of Fred’s in the last quarter of 2018. In January 2019, Walgreens purchased 185 of Fred’s 650 retail chains. Next time you go to Fred’s, the sign may read Walgreens instead!