Popular pet and garden chain closing all locations, no bankruptcy
The nearly 40-year-old brand has quietly made the decision to close its doors.
Usually, when a retail chain closes, it follows a predictable arc.
The company runs into financial trouble and that causes it to make inventory choices that affect its ability to recover. A store can't improve its bottom line, in most cases, by having fewer items to sell.
That was clearly part of the sad collapse of both Sears and J.C. Penney. The two brands made an effort to cut their inventory expense, which led to stores having less merchandise to show off.
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It also led to customers not finding what they wanted as the chains both reordered from their vendors less often. That created a situation where customers would see the items they wanted, but only in oddball sizes like extra-small.
Dying stores tend to fall into the vicious circle that's very hard to get out of.
It takes money to run a store and when cash gets tight, vendors actually make the problem worse. In many cases, if a supplier learns that a client has cash flow issues, they ask to be paid upfront or on shorter terms.
