We all know by now that good jobs are Priority One for Trump.45 and his economic minions. Just ask him, or follow his Twits.
There was a minor setback during this frenetic week of adventures, crisp photo-ops, and staff misadventures in the last seven days, with the worse than expected new jobs number (98,000) from none other than Trump.45’s official Bureau of Labor Statistics. Therefore, a trusty number, no fakery involved.
A significant part of the lackluster results for March job growth was due to a net loss of 30,000 jobs in the Retail Sector alone in the last 30 days. This is on top of a similar retail job loss in the February 2017 jobs report. The latest jobs report published on Friday April 7 incudes data through March 12.
And the beat goes on.
Later in the day on Friday, we learned than 62-year old electronics and appliance retailer HH Gregg based in Indianapolis (more good news for Mike Pence’s home stomping grounds) was not just downsizing for profitability, as they had announced just 30 days ago, but was closing up entirely, ceasing all operations.
The end came rather quickly for the company. Despite the lucrative chance for a bargain basement buyout or takeover situation starting in late February 2017 (a situation Trump.45 loves and often profits from), not one of 50 equity firms approached could be tempted, despite the fabulous, wonderful business confidence environment Trump.45 has established for wealthy entrepreneurs and venture capitalists as part of his solemn promise to generate 25 million new jobs over the next 10 years. Just another small bumpy setback along that glorious golden road to prosperity for all Americans.
So, to be counted in the ongoing Trump.45 Job Deflator Program for the record, we can add 5,000 more jobs, mainly in the heartland, that voted for Trump.45.
And the beat goes on.
Just a wild guess. Think you will see a regretful Twit from Trump about these about-to-be unemployed workers? Don’t count on it.
Maybe the Republican Congress can pass some sort of Tax Reduction Plan by the Fall of 2017. In which case the HH Gregg unemployed workers can look for a lower personal tax rate on the wages they will not have received since May.
No doubt it will warm the cockles of their voting hearts.
In the meantime, Trump.45’s voters and the rest of us have the following signal successes from the fabulous new Administration genius planners: No immigration ban, No ObamaCare Repeal and Replace, No Mexican Wall (paid for by America or Mexico), No New Fair Trade Deals, No Tax Reform, and No Infrastructure Package.
Trump’s Languorous Weekend Golfing Idyll as President
source: New York Times
Not to mention six 3-day or longer weekends at Mar-a-Lago on the taxpayers’ dime, and 16 golfing dates (all at his own profit making properties) during the first 80 days (at the end of this weekend) of his stewardship of America. The White House Press Operation is still at pains to convince us how hard Trump.45 works at his luxury resort, despite regular golf partner selfie evidence to the contrary. What a crock, an overflowing Trumpian crock.
A spectacular, glittering start for the Trump 100 Days golden period that is now more than ¾ gone up in smoke. Profiteering and lackluster results, weekends off. Americans left holding the bag.
The Chronicle of Woe for HHGregg (2017)
We felt the pain in Louisiana’s Trump Country, losing three stores in Baton Rouge, and the New Orleans metro area.
HHGregg Store in Baton Rouge, Closing Permanently. Notice the Wonderful Foot Traffic in Trump.45’s Optimistic American Retail Environment
From WBRZ:
March 02
BATON ROUGE – The electronics store on the Mall of Louisiana’s Boulevard, HH Gregg will close the company announced officially.
“We are strategically exiting markets and stores that are not financially profitable for us,” said Robert J. Riesbeck, the company’s president and CEO.
Also closing are two other locations in Louisiana: in the New Orleans suburbs Metairie and Harvey.
HH Gregg is undergoing a turnaround, in hopes of improvement business.
“We have determined that the economics of the affected locations will not allow us to achieve our overall goal of becoming a profitable company again. After scrutinizing our real estate portfolio, we have identified a number of underperforming stores, as well as store locations that are no longer strong shopping destinations due to changes in the local retail shopping landscape.”
When contacted last week about the possibility of the store at the mall in Baton Rouge closing, a mall official deferred comment to HH Gregg.
Current inventory in the affected stores will be sold over the coming weeks, with final closings expected to be complete by mid-April. The closings will result in the elimination of approximately 1,500 positions.
With HH Gregg’s exit from the Boulevard – an outdoor shopping area with many upscale stores – it’s corner location will be arguably one of the mall’s most visible signs of the changing retail landscape.
From AL.com:
Mar 02
HHGregg is closing 88 stores, including 2 in Alabama, the appliance and electronics retailer announced today.
The closures come following reports the 61-year old Indianapolis-based chain was considering filing for bankruptcy after two years of falling sales and dismal revenue numbers from the holiday season. The chain currently employs about 3,700 people with 1,500 jobs being cut through the closures.
“We are strategically exiting markets and stores that are not financially profitable for us,” said Robert J. Riesbeck, HHgregg’s President and CEO. “This is a proactive decision to streamline our store footprint in the markets where we have been, and will continue to be, important to our customers, vendor partners and communities.”
Inventory at the affected stores will be sold over the coming weeks with the closures expected to be complete by mid-April. Three HHGregg distribution centers – located in Maryland, Florida and Pennsylvania – will also close.
The chain will continue to operates 132 stores.
HHGregg will close stores in 15 states: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia:
From Fortune:
Mar 3
As brick-and-mortar retailers struggle with online competitors, home appliances seller HHGregg is shrinking fast in a bid to turn around.
The company announced Thursday it would close 40% of its stores and three distribution centers by mid-April. About 1,500 jobs are expected to be cut as a result, or 29% of the company’s full-, and part-time work force by March 2016.
“We are strategically exiting markets and stores that are not financially profitable for us,” said Robert J. Riesbeck, HHGregg president and CEO. “We have determined that the economics of the affected locations will not allow us to achieve our overall goal of becoming a profitable company again.”
That will leave 132 profitable HHGregg stores in operation after the closures are completed. Previously, the company said it would “explore strategic alternatives,” fanning bankruptcy rumors. Meanwhile, the New York Stock Exchange has begun the delisting process for shares of HHGregg because the company’s market cap was consecutively below NYSE requirements for over 30 days.
The coup de grâce. From AL.com today:
HHGregg is closing all its 220 stores by the end of May.
The closures, which will result in about 5,000 layoffs across the U.S., come after the appliance and electronic retailer failed to find a buyer in the wake of its bankruptcy filing. In March, the company announced it was closing 88 stores as part of restructuring but was approaching a tentative sales agreement to keep the remaining stores open.
That deal fell through.
“While we had discussions with more than 50 private equity firms, strategic buyers and other investors, unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in our plan to secure a viable buyer of the business on a going-concern basis within the expedited timeline set by our creditors,” HHGregg CEO Bob Riesbeck said in a statement.
Going-out-of-business sales at all HHGregg locations will start this weekend. The stores will be closed by the end of May.
From HHGregg’s hometown paper, the Indianapolis Star, yesterday:
April 7
INDIANAPOLIS — The going-out-of-business sales start this weekend at HHGregg.
The bankrupt retailer is planning to begin liquidating its assets Saturday after failing to find a buyer by its Friday deadline. The company expects to close all of its 220 stores by the end of May, resulting in about 5,000 layoffs across the U.S.
HHGregg CEO Bob Riesbeck in a statement said the company has “continued to fight for the future” since March 6 when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
“While we had discussions with more than 50 private equity firms, strategic buyers and other investors, unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in our plan to secure a viable buyer of the business on a going-concern basis within the expedited timeline set by our creditors,” Riesbeck said.
A company spokeswoman said Riesbeck was not available for an interview.
The liquidation process means HHGregg customers only have a few weeks left to use gift cards and return previously purchased items. Customers who want to make returns could end up being disappointed. The company, citing its bankruptcy process, is limiting returns on items bought before March 6 to $2,850 — a fraction of the cost of many high-ticket appliances and televisions.
The liquidation ends a 62-year run for HHGregg, which is headquartered on 96th Street. The company was founded by Henry Harold Gregg and his wife, Fansy.
HHGregg built a reputation as a regional electronics retailer, taking on companies such as Best Buy. But, like other big-box stores, HHGregg struggled to adapt to the e-commerce age. The store lost foot traffic and was slow to add features that online shoppers like, such as free shipping.
Riesbeck, who became CEO in February 2016 after Dennis May resigned, acknowledged he faced a difficult task. He described in an August interview how constantly changing technology has disrupted the company’s business model.
“One thing HHGregg used to make their money on was those big-box TVs people had to have delivered,” Riesbeck said. “And that’s how HHGregg was built through the years. Once it went to flat panels, and all of a sudden people realized they could put them in the backseat of their car, delivery’s not that important anymore.”
Riesbeck attempted to divert HHGregg’s focus from electronics to Fine Lines, an upscale store-within-a-store that sells appliances. HHGregg has become the seventh-largest appliance retailer in the U.S. behind Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sears, Best Buy, Sears Hometown and Wal-Mart, according to the consumer electronics trade publication Twice.
Although the Fine Lines brand showed encouraging growth, it was not enough to make up for plummeting electronics sales. HHGregg lost money in each of the past two years. The company suffered through a brutal holiday shopping season last year, which accelerated its demise.
HHGregg this year has taken a series of drastic steps to stay afloat. The company in February said it would lay off 100 people, including 70 workers at its headquarters, and followed that up March 2 with an announcement that it would close 88 stores in 15 states. Those store closings, which have not yet been completed, would have brought the company down to 132 locations. HHGregg has a total of 220 stores in 19 states.
HHGregg warned a week ago that the end could be near. The company disclosed in a March 31 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would begin liquidating unless it found a buyer by Friday.
HHGregg has signed a consulting agreement with Tiger Capital Group and Great American Group to sell its merchandise, furniture, fixtures and equipment across all of its stores and 14 distribution centers. The bankruptcy is expected to wipe out the value of HHGregg’s common stock.
As Riesbeck was working to reinvent HHGregg last year, he offered a blunt assessment of the company that could be considered its epitaph.
“I would say,” he told IndyStar, “we’re not unique in retail.”