Stores to Airlines, Many Brands Vanished in 2008

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: Stores to Airlines, Many Brands Vanished in 2008
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 31, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shoppers won't be picking up ornate lamps from the Bombay Co. in the coming year. Or investing with Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. No flying to Hawaii on Aloha Airlines or buying ultra-cheap tickets on Skybus, either. All those names vanished this past year, victims of the economy, the financial meltdown or other factors. Experts say 2009 could mark the end of even more well-known brands as the now-yearlong recession puts more struggling companies on life support. ''I think 2009 is going to be a bloodbath,'' said Scott Testa, a marketing professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. ''I think it's going to be very, very ugly.''...

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With sales and profits dropping this year and lenders leery of granting new credit, a number of retailers failed. Home goods seller Linens 'N Things began liquidating its stores after originally filing in May for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Apparel chain Steve & Barry's did the same later in the year. Catalog retailer Lillian Vernon Corp. and specialty retailer Sharper Image Corp. also vanished. KB Toys is in the midst of restructuring its business and is liquidating its more than 400 stores.

Of all the brands to disappear in 2008, Testa said, consumers may miss department store chain Mervyns the most since so many shoppers had a connection to the store. ''That's a brand that's been around for a very long time,'' he said....

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Beyond the brand names customers will no longer see, people may find many familiar businesses looking different. Retailers may operate far fewer stores or only sell their goods online. Banks may become subsidiaries of those that bought them or their names may be joined.

Circuit City Stores Inc., the nation's second-biggest electronics retailer, is closing more than 150 stores and laying off thousands of employees as it keeps operating and attempts to restructure under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. After Bear Stearns' collapse, several other financial companies were able to stay alive by becoming subsidiaries of healthier banks. The names of those institutions remain, but are likely to fade away over time. Washington Mutual, for example, was bought by JPMorgan. The new owner plans to rename Washington Mutual's bank branches.

The shakeout among companies this year will give sturdier brands a chance to shine and set them apart from their less-than-prosperous counterparts, experts said. Testa said the economic Darwinism will mean only the strongest stores survive, and they'll use the downturn to get more powerful....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2008/12/31/business/AP-Disappearing-Brands.html

[blue_onyx]

1. And more will join the list in 2009

"....consumers may miss department store chain Mervyns the most since so many shoppers had a connection to the store." Really? They left Michigan about a year or so before they decided to close and I didn't miss them. I hadn't shopped there for years before they closed down here.

"KB Toys is in the midst of restructuring its business." I thought the decision to close down all stores had already been made?

[Swede Atlanta]

6. KB Toys may enter another distribution channel

My thought is if they are seeking protection under Ch 11 of the Bankruptcy Code they may be either looking to re-start with a small brick and mortar storefront presence with perhaps specialty toys or may go to being the "online" store for toys.

[valerief]

2. Wal-Mart and McDonald's will be only two left standing. Wal-Mart

will sell The Clothes and The Medicine and The Canned Food. McDonald's will sell the EatNow Food.

Wal-Mart will also sell The Car. McDonald's will expand to sell The Gas.

Wal-Mart will rename itself to The Store. McDonald's new name will be The TakeOut.

All the banks will consolidate into one and it will be called The Bank.

People will be divided in the The Rich and The Poor. We're getting a headstart on that one.

[CurtEastPoint]

3. Don't forget: The Utilities and The Telecom will rule their domains, also. n/t

[valerief]

4. Oh, yes! That will be rolled into one and called The Power. nt

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Then comes The Merger to form Buy'n'Large

And we all know how THAT turned out.

[juno jones]

7. WaMu deserves all it gets

And here I was all pissed off because they wouldn't let me deposit a decent sum of money in their bank, even though I had a perfectly acceptable credit rating, etc at the time.

Good thing too. I went to a local credit union and still have a bit of it safely left and invested in locals to boot.