Target
Target is one of America’s most popular stores. It’s so popular it almost has a ritual-like aura for some shoppers. And yet it’s here on our list. With $72 billion in revenue for 2018, an increase of 3.48% over the year before, it’s easy to see why Target is the eighth-largest retailer in the U.S.
And, even if shoppers are getting tired of the Target brand, it got away with clothing only six stores. Additionally, the company is opening small-format stores in downtown areas and on college campuses. In Santa Barbara, Cape Cod, Washington, D.C., and Seattle will all boast of mini-Targets.
Bertucci’s
This Boston-based Italian restaurant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2018. Luckily, 58 of Bertucci’s wood-fired pizzerias are still open. Since 2011, the restaurant had seen declining sales year after year. It was not alone. Most mid-priced sit-down eateries have been struggling to make ends meet nationwide. Rescued from the brink of bankruptcy, Earl Enterprises picked Bertucci’s up for $20 million.
Bertucci’s is now in the company of Planet Hollywood, Buca di Beppo, Earl of Sandwich, and Tequila Taqueria. Whew. You can almost hear the collective sigh of New England and East Coast diners. Maybe founder, Bostonian Joey Crugnale, an emigrant of Sulmona, Italy, is relieved too. Bertucci’s isn’t going away. Why not Crugnale’s? I guess Bertucci’s just sounded better.
Williams-Sonoma
Williams-Sonoma has been making our kitchens and living spaces higher-quality and more inviting for over a half-century. Mr. Charles Williams originally set up shop in Sonoma, California, in 1947. But by 1958, he relocated the store to San Francisco, where clients like Julia Childs could easily access his array of fine French kitchenware. He expanded to Beverly Hills, adding catalog sales, and then gobbled up Pottery Barn in the mid-1980s.
Business thrived until the Amazon craze nearly flooded him out. A recent shakeup finds brand president Janet Hayes resigning and making way for Ryan Ross, executive vice president of various brands at the company. According to Retail Dive, in 2019, the store experienced a bump, with sales up 3% over last year; however, they eventually closed 30 stores in 2019.
Claire’s
Fashion and fun have come together at Claire’s for countless years. Many girls will fondly recall shopping with friends or getting their ears pierced for the very first time at the mall accessory shop. Sadly, for all those memories, Claire's filed for bankruptcy in 2018. On the upside, the store is yet holding onto its chain. Out of its 1,570 stores, only 170 closed.
This was an effort to manage its $2 billion worth of debt. Most of the $2 billion debt traces back to 2007 when a private equity firm, Apollo Global Management, purchased Claire’s, buying it out for $3.1 billion. Struggling to repay that debt, the company shelved 150 stores in 2016.
Pier 1 Imports
In 2018 the niche-import big-box retailer of unique home goods announced it would close 25 stores. Pier 1 then brought in new CEO Cheryl Bachelder by the 2018 fourth quarter and said goodbye to former CEO Alasdair James. Noting, at the time, that the store is missing on style, value, and selection for their shoppers, Bachelder added, now it’s all about “taking the bold actions needed to restore the health and promise of the business.”
Moody’s, a leading investment analyst firm, however, altered its Pier 1 outlook to “negative” once Bachelder took the helm. On the other hand, Moody’s recognized the company’s relatively light debt load but then worried about the $251 million worth of debt that was left. If Pier 1 is going to turn around, it better be soon!