CNN just listed some brands lost in 2025; https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/30/business/retailers-lost-2025
-what might we learn from this?
imo Party City lost occasion-based binge bulk buys to $ stores, a mini-section in Wally etc; the concept didn’t require/justify a full sized standalone outlet; a ‘store w/i store’ approach made more sense.
Joanns was a Michaels competitor for fabrics, crafts but admit it: folks arts makers, tailors & home seamstresses, nostalgic handcrafters are all increasingly niche; so …standalone stores? Sorry- etail & ‘store w/i a store’ make more sense. Where else does that take us? How about ….housewares? a sector vulnerable to Create & Barrel/ Pottery Barn from above, etailer Wayfare from below, Indigo & Canadian Tire from the sidelines. Can’t imagine it’s easy to work for Bouclair et al right now.
Rite Aid had bigger issues, strong competitors who were wiser on merch selection, layout, loyalty programs, vendor management,… Long ago Rite Aid did wise location analysis, but (despite the ‘location, location location’ adage) it wasn’t enough to sustain them.
Forever 21? Nothing to see here, folks; keep moving. Nothing new if a teen appeal brand can’t hold its cool forever (perhaps the Gods themselves were upset at the entitled attitude of the name*?).
Temporary = the rule, not the exception; for youth retail, clothing retail. For… perhaps….2 decades? Thrifty’s, Claire’s, Frank & Oak, Smart Set, Danier, Jacob, Jean Machine, Campus Crew, Aéropostale- all of them fell in Canada. That didn’t kill the brand’s potential to be repositioned as store w/i a store, or their top brands/IP being sold off; HBC did so with its iconic Stripes for blankets, apparel & more. That’s what Zellers did NOT do well; its house brands were fumbled when Target took their locations & their HBC parent’s attention was on The Bay; ‘Cherokee’ ‘Zeddy’ & a Club Z loyalty program (arguably a decade ahead of its time) were left to die but could have been sold off, licensed. A wasteful, sloppy ‘wind-down’ of ops & assets
1 lesson here is: none of us (& perhaps fewer of our brands than we hope) are ‘forever’. Morbid as it is- it’s wise to plan ahead. Like a planned funeral! eg if I ran (still strong for the moment) Garage clothing stores – objectively what are my assets? to whom could they be most valuable? At worst, this Porter-ish strategy exercise starts you thinking differently about competitors, collaborators. At best, it might make a more orderly transition, if/when ‘that day’ does come.
*can’t help think the Gods smiled when ‘Forever’ 21 died, but wouldn’t be surprised if they let ‘Garage’ go on a bit longer, smiling wryly at the humility of a brand name just 1 letter away from ‘Garbage’ 🙂