American Malls In Meltdown - The Economic Recovery Is Complete & Utter Fraud

Zero Hedge ^ | 16AUG2015 | Staff Writer

[perez24]

I think the safety issue is a bigger problem for malls than they want to acknowledge because it will make them confront some uncomfortable truths about the source of the safety problems.

Even nice malls around us seem dead though.

[Enlightened1]

July department store sales were the lowest in the history of the data series. Sales of $13.8 billion were 22% below the July 2007 level of $17.6 billion. They were 28% below the peak level of $19.2 billion in 1999. Real department store sales are 36.5% BELOW where they were in 2007, (and Wall Street shysters have had buy ratings on these stocks the whole way down.)

Macy’s:
--- Overall sales fell 2.6%, while comparable store sales fell by 2.1%, as Macy’s continues to close under-performing stores. News flash: there are many more stores to close.
--- Profits crashed by 25.7% as gross margins declined and expenses rose.
---- Cash flow from operations has declined by a staggering 46% in the first six months of this year.


Kohl’s
--- Overall sales were up a pathetic 0.6% after last year’s 2nd quarter sales were lower than 2013. Comp store sales were up only 0.1% after being down 1.3% the previous year.
---- Profits fell precipitously by a mere 44% versus the prior year, down by $102 million. Margins fell while expenses rose.
---- Cash from operations has crashed by 52% in the first six months.


Sears
--- They have generated a Negative cash flow from operations of $1.4 billion in the last twelve months. They have burned through $556 million of cash. They have $8.4 billion of long-term debt and other liabilities, with equity of NEGATIVE $1.2 billion.


J.C. Penney
--- They lost another $138 million and have racked up $305 million of losses so far this year.
---- They have lost money for 13 consecutive quarters. That is no easy feat.
---- They have managed to lose $3.6 billion in the last four and a half years, while driving their annual sales from $18 billion DOWN to $12 billion.

[raybbr]

I sold about $50,000 worth in vacations today. What does that tell you about the economy?

Why don't you tell us? I have no idea what that says about the economy.

[Rapscallion]

Zero Hedge is correct. America is being lied to by the entire government. Time for a change.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

It might possibly have something to do with on-line shopping.

[Psalm 73]

"The strip mall: You go in, shop, leave. Malls are becoming thug central."

Most malls tend to be "gun-free zones" also, so carrying leaves you open to ejection/arrest. I don'r ever remember seeing a "no guns allowed" sign at a strip-mall.

[trebb]

It's not just the economy. Malls have become unsafe. At least that's becoming the perception of potential customers. They hear of shootings, muggings and what not and they figure it's just safer to shop online.

We lost a mall and it was anything but unsafe - the economy just got so bad that it was mainly serving as an indoor walking track....

[antidisestablishment]

Recruiting centers are often at strip malls:

[CodeToad]

“I sold about $50,000 worth in vacations today. What does that tell you about the economy?”

There are still people with money who are too stupid not to spend it on vacations. I bet those people do not have enough to retire on but are living it up right now. We all know those people that just have to go to Disney for $3,000 every year or a beach vacation for $5,000, but they pay using a credit card and not cash.

[Alberta's Child]

This article raises a lot of good points, but the statistics cited here are highly misleading.

For one thing, there's no question that online retailing has poached a huge portion of the market share from these traditional retailers. And secondly, anyone involved in commercial real estate will tell you that there has been excess retail capacity in the U.S. for decades. If you measure the ratio of retail floor space in the U.S. to the U.S. population over time, you'll find that the number grew fairly steadily from the 1940s to the 1980s, then went through the roof in the 1980s and 1990s.

America simply doesn't need all the retailers -- and all the shopping malls -- we have right now.

[Psalm 73]

"Recruiting centers are often at strip malls..."

Sad bit of irony there. But the "no guns" signs are on individual store fronts, not the entire structure.
I'm not even supposed to walk into our mall with a weapon - but can pull into a strip mall and if a store says no guns, I just don't go in - still free to go to any other store in the line-up.

[wally_bert]

Amazon sends me a statement I get to share with the Revenue Department for sales taxes.

[Fiji Hill]

I haven’t shopped in or bought anything in malls for years, except the occasional book but only because they moved the bookstores into malls.

Unfortunately, bookstores are disappearing from malls. Not long ago, the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif. had three bookstores, but now it has none. And it is said that Barnes & Noble, the last of the bookstore chains, is not in good financial health.

I enjoy shopping at bookstores and would much rather read a real book than a screen.

[SamAdams76]

Just last night, I ordered the following things on Amazon.com:

Replacement blade for my lawn mower
Parts for my grill
Replacement tweezers for my Swiss Army Knife Cassette to MP3 converter
Book to read on my Kindle (instantly delivered)

Most of this stuff will be at my door on Tuesday.

In the past, I would go to Sears, Barnes & Noble and an electronics store for these things. I probably would have bought an entire new Swiss Army Knife rather than search around for replacement tweezers in stores.

I still see that the parking lots around malls look crowded but I hardly go into them anymore. Maybe I'll go to the Apple Store or the food court but that's about it. I have no idea how all those clothing stores stay in business. I would never buy clothes at a mall.

Almost everything can be bought on Amazon.com. When I placed my order last night, I tried to imagine the people at the warehouses scrambling to fill my order. I hear they run those guys pretty ragged. All those items are probably already packed and ready to ship this morning.

[SamAdams76]

I enjoy shopping at bookstores and would much rather read a real book than a screen.

It's just the opposite for me. I do far more reading today now that I carry my library around electronically. Most of my reading is done on my tablet or Kindle but if I'm standing in line somewhere or waiting at the doctor's office, I can just push a button on my phone and pick up where I left off.

Reading traditional books is kind of awkward now.

[bert]

amen....

[Flick Lives]

And there are no taxes online.

...and you can shop online in your underwear. The malls say "no shirt, no shoes, no service"; but they didn't say anything about pants. They really should mention pants.

[Caipirabob]

Obama "economic recovery" BUMP!

[pa_dweller]

Most malls tend to be "gun-free zones" also

There's one a few miles from me that has a list of no-no's posted at one of the main entrances and firearms are on that list. However, if you enter through one of the tenant store's doors there is no such warning and there is no warning when passing from the store into the mall proper. Curious.

[Jack Hydrazine]

But the cake looks SOooooo good!