MACY'S closed 50 stores before covid.
NOW 150!
https://nj1015.com/ixp/854/p/many-jobs-lost-beloved-mall-retailer-confirms-massive-closings/
I really think this is due to the high rents everywhere, considering the size of the buildings the leases must be enormous. I think this is why Olive garden close to 110 restaurants. You can't make the food any cheaper or people any sicker than chain restaurants having lease rent issues.
I really hope people vote on the economy this November.
You hit something nice there.
“Rent”
Did department stores ever own their buildings before? McDonald’s uses that as a business model, so why is it rarely done by other stores?
If a company doesn’t own it’s stores, it has less investment in that area, and can treat the people like something to be fleeced, simply aiming to maximize returns, rather than a mutually beneficial situation.
What else might encourage stores to rent over owning and being directly tied to their locations and people?
Olive garden is closing 110 restaurants. Pasta is cheap. It's getting hard for restaurants to serve good food. The rents are high.
In our neighborhood there's a tiny Italian restaurant where they bought the building too in 1986. Same menu same good home Italian food. They own the building so they can afford to cook the way they always have.
Big difference in the business model these days trying to own a business and needing space. Just like a place to live.