retail sales

Gracious Home Files Chapter 11

Gracious Home, a New York luxury home-goods retailer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The brand, which began as a hardware store in Manhattan in 1963 had morphed into a brand selling home decor, lighting, children's furniture, kitchen goods and more. The business will continue to operate during the bankruptcy and will be restructuring with the help of new investor, GH Acquisition, an affiliate of Meridian Ventures. The business listed assets and liabilities of $10 million to $50 million in court papers.

The business has six locations in Manhattan as well as an e-commerce website. "We want to assure our customers, our employees, our suppliers and our community that Gracious Home is operating - business as usual," Jordan Smilowitz, President and Chief Operating Officer said in a statement.

Tags: chapter 11 bankruptcy, gracious home, retail, retail sales, retailers

The Rich Will Rescue Christmas

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

It looks like luxury retail is getting ready for a comeback. Shoppers in enviable tax brackets are doing a better job of prying their wallets open, at least if you can believe their stock prices. Tiffany, Saks and Nordstrom all showed signs of progress heading into Black Friday, meaning that investors were willing to bet on the wealthy.

Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak, explained to USA Today, "We're resting our (upbeat outlook) on the upper-income consumer, who seems to be holding up pretty well." This group, he continued, "is where the vast majority of spending in this country is done."

Research firm Penn Schoen Berland weighed in with agreement: "Well-to-do Americans are feeling much less of a crunch." Households with incomes of greater than $70,000 a year, the firm found, planned to amp up their holiday spending by 27 percent this year. Those with incomes below $40,000 are cutting their holiday joy by 14 percent.

While the bargain hunters turn to the discount retailers, which are expected to do well this year, look for the higher-income consumers to spend more at places like Williams-Sonoma and other mid-range to upscale retail establishments.

So, with deeper pockets starting to open this year, it looks like the wealthy will turn last year's holiday bust around. A good holiday season for Saks shows that those with the bucks are starting to open up, and recoveries start at the top.

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Tags: luxury retail, luxury retailers, LuxuryRetail, LuxuryRetailers, nordstrom, Nordstroms, recession, RecessionAntidote, recovery, retail, retail sales, retailers, RetailSales, saks, Saks Fifth Avenue, SaksFifthAvenue, tiffany, TiffanyAndCo, tiffanys

Wine Retailers Face Tough Internet Laws

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

As much as I believe we should support our local wine stores, sometimes there are wines that you can't get from the local stores. In moments like that it would seem logical to turn to the internet. Unfortunately for people in many states, out-of-state internet retailers are not allowed to sell wine. While in 2005, the Supreme Court opened up the rules regarding letting wineries ship out of state. A total of 36 states and the District of Columbia allow wineries to ship directly to residents in some capacity. The rules however, do not apply to retailers. As this LA Times article states, retailers can ship to just 14 states, and that will drop to 13 this summer. There is even a possibility that California, which produces the most wine and has the least rules on selling it, could the list. There is already a law on the books that stops Californias from buying wine from out-of-state retailers. The state attorney general's office has currently put a hold on the law to give wine associations the chance to persuade lawmakers to change the laws.

Wine wholesalers and distributors are against any relaxing of the laws and say the laws help reduce access by minors. One the other side, the retailers say that allowing consumers to order directly gives them more choice and can save them money. i think most wine lovers would be in favor of laws that open wine sales over the internet but often many people aren't aware of these laws until they try to order a bottle and find themselves locked out.

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Tags: expire-images:2009-1-6, internet, retail sales, wine