Quote:
Originally Posted by connect2source
Could be a seasonal thing but I did notice the opening time was 10am during last summer.
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The Bay is in a retail death spiral.
Gone are the days where department stores acted as a replacement for separate trips to the shoe store, and the kitchen appliance store, and the toy store, and the electronics store. There is now simply too much variety in each category for The Bay to offer a comprehensive selection. Just look at how much larger Best Buy has to be compared to the electronics stores of yesteryear, just to carry all (but still not close to all) the televisions, AV equipment, video game consoles, cameras, computers, cell phones, etc. The same goes for shoes, where massive retailers often offer a comprehensive range of products for only a select few activities such as business, running, or team sports.
So The Bay doesn't have enough floor space to compete with the specialty brick-and-mortar retailers on selection depth, but also the internet has eaten its lunch in terms of breadth. Where do must people go if they want to purchase a book, some home décor, and a cardigan? Amazon, because they know the items they want will likely be in-stock and Amazon's doors are always open.
The department stores that are still surviving have mostly gone all-in on luxury products, where consumers are willing to pay for the in-person shopping experience so they can have a suit tailored for them or take a pair of wingtips for a test walk. But The Bay is still largely a downtown-based department store catering to the needs of middle class consumers, and most of those consumers are living in the suburbs and do their shopping with their phone from their couch while binging Vanderpump Rules or Selling Sunset.
The Bay is trying to compete with specialty retailers and e-commerce by offering breadth and depth, but it is failing at both. So the company is left either severely overstocked with items that no one wants or understocked with the items that are actually selling. But if you go all-in on Cuisinart food processors because those are selling and stop offering the KitchenAid models, maybe you'll lose a consumer to Best Buy which sells both. Or if you keep and expand your menswear section because its thriving but axe jewelry, maybe holiday shoppers buying gifts for mom and dad will just make a bundled purchase on Amazon.
So here is where the death spiral comes in: The Bay needs loads and loads of cash to fund its working capital, but it's losing customers who provide that cash. So maybe the company cuts operating hours by 20% to save some cash normally spent on wages, but that alienates the early morning and late night shoppers and further constricts cash. So maybe The Bay spends a little less on maintaining the exteriors of their flagship locations, but the grubby appearances chase away customers who had always thought of The Bay as upscale. Then maybe because of cash flow problems The Bay falls behind on vendor payments and Calvin Klein pulls its spring catalogue order, and then the customers who always bought Calvin Klein from The Bay purchase their underwear and blazers directly from Calvin Klein's website.
In short, The Bay needs an infusion of cash. But without seriously re-thinking operations, the company will burn through any infusion in short order. I'm afraid we will be resigned to grubby exteriors, shorter operating hours, and understocked shelves until The Bay goes under or new investors and/or management make some serious changes.
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