Saturday, April 30, 2016

Analyst: $15 An Hour Minimum Wage Causes Sports Authority to Close All Stores

Pasdena Star News reports:
When struggling retailer Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month in the face of more than $1 billion in debt, the company indicated that it had two options going forward.

One of those was to shed underperforming stores and emerge from bankruptcy as an intact, but pared-down company. The other was to sell everything and cease operating.

On Tuesday, the company appeared to choose the latter.
There's more:
The abrupt abandonment of a reorganization plan follows Sports Authority’s announcement in March that it would close 140 of its 464 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico to help pay off $1.1 billion in debt.

Phil Lempert, a Santa Monica-based analyst of consumer behavior and marketing trends, figures consumers haven’t seen the last of major retailers shuttering. Just last week, Sport Chalet announced the closure of all 47 of its stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. That chain is based in La CaƱada Flintridge.

“With the minimum wage going up to $15 an hour and more people turning to online shopping, more stores are going to close,” Lempert said. “It’s fine to say that everyone should have a living wage. But the money has to come from somewhere.”

Lempert said a growing number of retail outlets have fallen victim to “showrooming,” where customers will walk into a store, try on the shirt or jacket they like and then order it online at a significant discount.
The demand for labor is always, as we've said, a downward sloping curve.