Blog 4 : Retailer's Bankruptcy

During the past year many retailers have filed for bankruptcy. During black Friday and after Christmas sales there were many retailers that had mega sales. Things were looking good for consumers but with economy going down the drain it was hard for most consumers to shop during these sales. By the new year 2009 companies had to close out stores in different locations such as Claires, KB Toys, Goody's, Circut City, Wilson Leathers, Ann Taylor, and many more. According to economists they believe that this year would reach the highest retail bankruptcy since the recession in 1991. The rise of gasoline prices and housing issues, it forces consumers to hold back on the brands and conserve their money. Economists also believe that vacancies will reach as high as 12.5% this year. This epidemic has been going on since the 90s and is still continuing. Consumers are not careful with what they spend their paychecks on.

Dillards has closed 20 out of 330 stores this year and also had a 6% sales decline. Dillards also has a credit debt and the only solution would be to close down stores slowly. Circuit City was the most at risk before bankruptcy. With their competition, Best Buy, they were vulnerable for going out of business. Also stores likes Claires and Libby Loos (which are also going out of business) are targeted towards young girls. With the economy so low parents don't want to spend the money on their child's hedonic needs. Stores such as Tablots and Cache is targeted towards a specific group of women. These two stores are also going out of business. Stores like these are bound to close with our economy like this because it's targeted towards a specific group. Unlike Wal-Mart, which is the only strong standing retailer, has items for less and for the whole family.

(dantoujours.blogspot.com) this only shows up to 2008, 2009 it has gone up.




Citaton;
http://www.nydailynews.com
http://www.businessweek.com

Blog 3 : Target Audience

Targeted Marget:

Women and Men age range from 20+. Mainly looking for a fit lifestyle.
These people are generally middle class income.
Most have some college degree
products they may be interested at GNC are vitamin pills, protein shakes, weight loss pill, etc.

I took the VALs survey as a GNC shopper
the results collected were achiever and experiencer.

i agree with these results. most shoppers at GNC are achieving a goal for their body. The secondary was an Experiencer type. i agree with this statement as well. Shoppers are experiencer to use our product and to proceed with life.

Blog 2 : about American Apparel

In 1991, Dov Charney started making basic t-shirts under the brand name American Apparel. Dov Charney is an entrepreneur, retailer, and wholesaler. He earned recognition in the media that fair wage was a big deal for this company. This retailer first started out in Los Angeles, California. Dov Charney sub-contracted with Sam Lim for his sewing skills. The company started out with a little shop of 50 employees under the interstate 10 freeway of LA. By 2000, they moved to the current factory in downtown Los Angeles. American apparel first started out as wholesalers but eventually moved to the retail market. This retailer is a made in USA good and sold about $125 million dollars outside of America.

American Apparel is a vertical-integrated company. In 2003 American Apparel opened up stores around Los Angeles, Montreal, and New York with $80 million dollars in sales. As of 2008 the company has expanded worldwide and has more than 200 stores in United States, Israel, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Switzerland, China, Germany, Canada, France, Sweden, Mexico, United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia.

American apparel is a wholesaler and will make t-shirts for bands, clubs, and any other event.