Brad

A couple "housekeeping" updates for the prize club: 1. I will start collecting addresses to send you your pins next month. Look for an announcement when you post in here during September. As with last year, you'll be on the honor system to post during the last month as you should have your prize before then. 2. Everyone who qualifies will now receive 2 pins instead of 1. I had to order a minimum of 100 and there are only 41 of you right now, so everyone gets 2

100 days until Black Friday (or possibly the day formerly known as Black Friday this year)

Here's a running list of the stores that have filed for bankruptcy so far this year (Stein Mart not added yet): https://www.retaildive.com/news/the-running-list-of-2020-retail-bankruptcies/571159/

Doubt it would help anyone but Amazon and Simon. They never opened any pickup areas at their existing warehouses so I wouldn't expect anything at the malls either. Just Amazon getting some cheap locations to use until they open even more distribution centers in those areas.

Lost one during July. Down to 41 members.

Don't think I haven't been thinking about it. Even got some custom fabric samples in: Like Gator Pam said, the main thing that would keep me from doing them is that everyone has their own favorite style/size/material and so it's tough to have a universal style that will work for everyone, and I don't want them to just sit in a drawer because people don't like wearing them. I have a big stack of various masks myself that I bought that didn't work for me. So I'll probably just have a very small quantity made in a couple sizes and those who want them can get one and that'll be it. No t-shirts this year (at least not new designs). This isn't going to be a "real" Black Friday and so it's not really something I want to celebrate with a shirt. Instead I'm going to do something else involving "vintage" shirts and other merch from my archives (of which I have plenty). More on that in about a month.

Between the stores having supply chain issues and the shipping carriers (especially USPS) having issues processing packages now during what should be a slower time of year, this is setting up to be a perfect storm come November and December. We've seen carriers become overwhelmed and have significant delays during December in previous years. Now with what should be way more online shopping and people shipping gifts, and possibly UPS and Fedex having to take packages that can't be trusted to USPS if their problems continue, it's looking like a nightmare scenario. The retailers starting their sales in early October are probably smart to do so. Whether shoppers will take advantage or wait for "real" deals later on (that may not come) is the question.

...and Kohl's https://corporate.kohls.com/news/archive-/2020/july/kohl-s-stores-to-close-on-thanksgiving-day-2020

Best Buy too https://corporate.bestbuy.com/best-buy-to-close-stores-on-thanksgiving-day/

Add Target to the list https://corporate.target.com//article/2020/07/early-holiday-plans?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral Also says, as I suspected, that stores will try to extend their big sales for the entire 4th quarter instead of focusing on BF.

I received a catalog from Sam's Club today for a new "savings week" sale next week that seemingly replaced their summer "one day only" sale. We could possibly see more of that kind of thing for BF season. Rather than a big one or two-day sale, they could have a week or more with the bigger deals spaced out so everyone isn't there on the same day.

July 30 update: I merged the individual store threads into this one main thread. So just post new closings you hear about in this thread rather than have individual threads for each store.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/7/21314767/walmart-plus-grocery-delivery-amazon-prime-membership-loyalty-program-walmart Walmart plans to launch a new subscription service later this month called Walmart+ that will cost $98 a year. It will include perks like same-day delivery of groceries and general merchandise, discounts on fuel at Walmart gas stations, and early access to product deals.

Now looking like the first week of October (and Q4): https://www.pymnts.com/amazon-commerce/2020/amazon-prime-day-tentatively-set-for-october/

No dropouts in June. Still at 42 members

Nobody dropped out in May. Still at 42. Going to have to make the pins a little more "generic" because most reputable places want a 100-pin minimum or will charge so much for 50 that I can get 100 for almost the same price. So I'll likely have extras to give out to family/friends and didn't want them to say "prize club" or anything like that.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jc-penney-sycamore-bankruptcy-exclusi-idUSKBN23C2V9 Private equity firm looking to buy JCP. Because private equity has such a good track record in retail...

List of the first group of 154 stores that will be closing: https://companyblog.jcpnewsroom.com/storeclosings/

Halfway to Black Friday. Yay?

Today is 7 months to Christmas. Tomorrow is 6 months to Thanksgiving. Wednesday is 6 months to Black Friday.

If their distribution network can handle it, they'd be smart to just have a long 4-month string of sales starting with Prime Day and going through BF. They'd get a jump on everyone and you'd have people doing holiday shopping much earlier than normal.

WSJ reporting today that Prime Day has been pushed back again, to September (just 2 months before BF).

No shirts this year. Noodle hats it is!

I don't envy the retailers who have to make major Q4 decisions (promotion/sale planning, purchase quantities, etc) now with no possible knowledge of how things will be by November.

JCPenney's bankruptcy filing today is another big hit for the retail industry. Pier 1, J.Crew, Neiman Marcus, Modell's and others have done the same in the last few months with more likely to follow. As we approach the halfway point in the calendar, what does everyone envision for Black Friday this year? Obviously everything can and likely will change in the next 6 months, but as of now, what do you think happens when November rolls around? Is there any chance of a "normal" Black Friday?