Vitamin Shoppe is GNC’s top competitor. For quite a long time, if you needed any vitamins or supplements, this is where you would go. Except no one physically goes anywhere if they can have the product they want sent right to their doorstep.
Both companies are mired in the same retail nightmare. Vitamin Shoppe watched its stock price plummet over 80% between 2015 -2018. Sales slid downward for two years straight. The company’s 2019 outlook included opening ten new stores and closing 60 to 80 underperforming stores. One goal was to increase e-commerce, and in 2018, they increased online sales by almost 19%.
Tops Market
Tops Market is another company that filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Nine months later, the Amherst-based grocery chain came out on top. Its new deal included negotiating employee pensions with unions and cutting interest payments from $80 million to $55 million a year. Closing 10 of its slowest stores was also included.
Competition has not changed. Specialty grocers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are not going away anytime soon. Traditional supermarkets like Tops have been struggling against such stores for years. As for the ten stores that closed, Tops found jobs for all 600 employees affected by the store closings.
Lowe’s
Lowe’s announced its plan to shutter 51 of its big-box hardware stores in December 2018. Of the 51 stores that closed, 20 were located in the U.S. and 31 in Canada. After the closures, Lowe’s still operates over 2,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The closings are just part of “building a stronger business,” according to CEO Marvin Ellison. Also, the closures occurred in stores within a ten-mile radius of another Lowe’s store.
Just a little belt-tightening and efficiency improvements. The company implemented an unspecified number of layoffs in August 2019. In total, Lowe’s employs about 300,000 workers. At the end of the day, with Lowe’s recently reporting a lower profit outlook for the future, one can’t help but wonder what else is up their sleeve.
Neiman Marcus
Founded in 1907, more than a century ago, Neiman Marcus is somehow still around. The exodus from mall shopping to outdoor shopping pavilions has taken its toll on many retailers. Department stores like Sears, JCPenney, Nordstrom, and Macy’s have felt the pinch. Neiman Marcus has not fared much better.
The company has only lost money between 2016-2018. They pointed out that hopes were not too bright under the company’s heavy debt load. Neiman Marcus CEO and President Karen Katz blame decreasing sales on social media and “fast fashion.” Access to fashion shows used to be exclusive, and now anyone can tune in.
Whole Foods Market
Ever since 2017, Whole Foods Market has been owned by Amazon. The original Whole Foods Market was established in Austin, Texas, way back in 1980. If you think the 2017 merger has allowed the company some protection from the Retail Apocalypse, you’re probably right.
While Whole Foods accounts for only 3% of the total grocery store market, it’s got the e-commerce Godzilla on its side, which was proven to have protected it quite well. The most significant store closings, however, are of Whole Foods Market’s smaller, lower-priced brand called, 365. All 12 of the 365 stores were closed in 2019.