Garden Ridge is Now Called "At Home".

   IS NOW

Formerly based is Houston, now Plano, TX-based Garden Ridge, a home furnishings chain, plans to invest 20 million dollars in a re-branding strategy.

CEO Lee Bird said It took over a year of research and development  to make the decision to change the company name and to remodel all the stores.

Before, Garden Ridge had a time differentiating itself, pointing out that the orange color scheme was too similar to that of Home Depot.

The new name better represents what the stores sell, rather than the old name, Garden Ridge, where the name represents the sale of strictly garden supplies and outdoor furniture, when really the stores are mire than that.

The new name "At Home", with a better color scheme of white, teal, and grey, brings a more homesy, with new shelving and furniture settings like what Ikea does to show off what they sell, rather than the old industrious look the company used since the 70's.

At Home also plans to open 13 new stores over the course of 2014.

The transition of changing all the stores from the Garden Ridge name, to At Home, is planned to be completed just in time for the holiday shopping season.

There is currently a total of 71 stores across 21 states.

Darden Sells Red Lobster for 2.1 Billion!

Darden is setting Red Lobster adrift, but betting that it can still turn around Olive Garden's fortunes.

Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, has purchased the Red Lobster restaurant business from Darden Restaurants.

 The sale is for $2.1 billion and is the end of a long process for Darden to sell or spin-off the seafood chain.

 The announcement came despite objections from some shareholders to the plan to separate Red Lobster, which was announced late last year.

Red Lobster, which opened in 1968, helped popularize seafood among Americans and today has about 700 locations in the U.S. and Canada. 

The first restaurant in Lakeland, Florida, boasted a menu including a half a dozen oysters for 65 cents and platters with frog legs and hush puppies for $2.50.

Both Olive Garden and Red Lobster have been losing customers in recent years, even as they changed their menus and marketing campaigns to win back business. 

Part of the problem is the growing popularity of places like Chipotle and Panera, where customers feel they can get the same quality of food without paying as much or waiting for table service.

Sears Closing Stores To Seek Quick Cash.

Sears has been on a downward spiral almost since the day it merged with Kmart in 2005. And that plunge seems to be picking up speed.

The company announced this week that it may sell its 51% stake in Sears Canada, which operates nearly 20% of the company's stores worldwide.

 It has quietly closed nearly 100 U.S. stores in the last year. Next week, it's expected to announce dismal fiscal first quarter results and possibly yet more store closings.

"The lights are going off at Sears and Kmart,"

 "There are tumbleweeds blowing through the parking lots at Kmart. They're basically completely irrelevant." 

The company won't comment on store closings, but CEO Edward Lampert reportedly told shareholders at this month's annual meeting that...

 

"closing stores are going to be part of our future. The world has shifted." 

A company spokesman did not dispute that quote.

Sears will continue to close stores and hopefully get their act together to restore what can possibly be left of the Sears name families of a better time grew up knowing for years to come.

Sears Holdings Puts Sears Canada Up For Sale.

Cadillac Fairview-owned Eaton Centre Sears wing as shoppers enjoy its presence before closing
 its doors February 24, 2014.

At its height, Sears was the country’s biggest retailer, but that has not been true for more than two decades and now, the department store chain, struggling to execute on its latest turnaround, is looking to shrink again.

On Wednesday, Sears stated its plan to hire an investment bank to explore options for its 51 percent stake in Sears Canada — including a potential sale of the entire Canadian enterprise.

It would be the latest move by the company, hurt by years of declining sales, to shed non-core operations to focus on its ailing core businesses like Sears and Kmart as well as other high priority ventures. The retailer has said its top priorities now include improving e-commerce sales and bolstering the Shop Your Way rewards program with in-store reward card holding showrooms in select US stores.

Sears Canada has performed better than its parent, reporting $446.5 million in net income last year. Still, its sales have fallen for six consecutive years, and it has lost ground to aggressive competitors like Wal-mart and Target.

To help stanch its own bleeding, Sears Canada has laid off 2,600 employees and sold off leases since the beginning of 2013. But the lease sale could ultimately tamp down what Sears could fetch in a sale of its Canadian counterpart.

In the past, Sears has sold properties including some of the most desirable retail locations in Canada, like the Eaton Centre location to Nordstrom, which will open in the summer of 2016.

There will possibly be many potential buyers to takeover operations if and when deal goes through.

RadioShack Is Closing Fewer Stores Than Anticipated!

2014 RadioShack "In With The New" Superbowl ad debut's end result, openly admitted how outdated the stores are.

A month following the 2014 Superbowl blowout blunder of the Seahawks and Broncos, as well as the ad debut of RadioShacks "In With The New" campaign commercial, announced the closure of over 1,100 store in the next year.

Now RadioShack says it has cancelled initial plans to close up 1,100 stores because it unable to come to an agreement with lenders as well as franchise owners.

The struggling electronics retailer says it will go forward with closing an unspecified smaller number of stores, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The retailer announced its store closing plans in after the commercial which shows the chain admitting that there stores are indeed outdated and need to be refreshed, at the same time it reported a $191.4 million loss for the fourth quarter and a 19% drop in sales at stores open at least a year.

 RadioShack operates 4,300 stores in the U.S., 274 in Mexico, and about 950 dealer outlets worldwide.

Dahl's Foods Closing in Ames and Ankeny, IA.

Dahls Foods in Ames, IA above, is one of two stores announced that are closing.

Dahl's Foods announced today that it plans to close two of there stores in Ames and Ankeny, Iowa.

The company said the stores are closing due to poor performance.

Dahl's said it has not scheduled a date yet for when the Ames and Ankeny stores will close.  

Both stores will remain open until the store inventory is liquidated, the company said.

COMPETITION:

It's a very competitive market in the Des Moines area

Everywhere that sells groceries is a competitor in toward one another.

Iowa is home to many successful local-based supermarket chains, national chains and a network of strong independent grocery stores so it is a highly competitive marketplace. 

As such, Iowa consumers enjoy some of the lowest grocery prices and best customer service in the country.

This is a strategic business move, to close non-performing stores to benefit already successful locations. this still will continue to provide customers in greater Des Moines the best grocery experience possible. 

The other 11 Dahl's locations will remain open.

A quick scan of the Metro Des Moines area shows more than 80 stores that have groceries including:

Dahl's, Hy-Vee, Fareway, Campbells, Whole Foods, Traders Joes, ALDI, Gateway Market, Walmart, Target, Save-A-Lot, Family Dollar and Dollar General. 

That's before you count Casey's, Kum & Go, Walgreens and others that carry at least basic grocery items.

Dahl's Foods are a really nice, budget friendly, chain serving the Des Moines area for more than 70 years.

Roundy's Selling Off Rainbow Foods

Roundy's Inc. is officially exiting the Twin Cities market, announcing the sale May 7, that 18 Rainbow Foods stores in the Minneapolis area will be sold to Minneapolis-based Lunds Food Holdings, Eden Prairie -based Supervalu Inc. and three other independent retailers.

The companies are paying $65 million for the stores and their inventory. The buyers say they will turn 10 stores into Cub Foods, two stores into Byerly's and keep the Rainbow Foods name on six for the time being

The seller, Milwaukee-based Roundy's, said in a press release that it will exit the Twin Cities entirely by selling or closing the nine Twin Cities Rainbow Foods stores that are not part of the deal. Roundy's has slowly been closing stores in the market for a few years while focusing on Chicago's Mariano's Fresh Market division that Ultimately pushed Safeway-owned Dominick's Finer Foods out of Business last December.

"It looks like the shoe is on the other supermarket's foot right now!"

The deal is expected to be finalized in the next 60 to 90 days.

Roundys currently operates 28 stores under the Rainbow name in the Minneapolis area and Copp's, Pick n' Save, and Metro Market in Wisconsin as well as Mariano's in Chicago.

These 10 Rainbow Foods stores will be converted to Cub Foods stores:

• Chaska – 200 Pioneer Trail
• Eagan -- 1276 Town Centre Drive
• Lakeville – 17756 Kenwood Trail
• Minneapolis (Lagoon) – 1104 Lagoon Avenue
• Minneapolis (Quarry) – 1540 New Brighton Road
• Oakdale – 7053 10th St. N.
• Plymouth – 10200 Sixth Ave. N.
• Roseville (includes stand-alone liquor store) – 1201 Larpenteur Ave.
• St. Louis Park (includes stand-alone liquor store) – 5370 16th St. W.
• St. Paul – 892 Arcade St.

These two Rainbow stores will become Byerly's (a Lund Food Holdings brand):

• Eden Prairie – 970 Prairie Center Drive
• Woodbury (includes stand-alone liquor store) – 7050 Valley Creek Plaza

These six will remain Rainbow Foods under their new owners:

• Maplewood – 2501 White Bear Ave.
• Minneapolis (Lake Street) – 2919 26th Ave. S.
• Plymouth (Plymouth Station) – 16705 County Road 24
• Richfield – 140 W. 66th St.
• St. Paul (Midway) – 1566 University Ave. W.
• West St. Paul – 1660 Robert St. S.

These nine Rainbow Foods stores are not part of the sale. Roundy's will close them if no buyers come forward:

• Bloomington – 2600 American Boulevard W.
• Shoreview – 441 Highway 96
• Blaine – 551 87th Lane N.E.
• Maple Grove – 16401 County Road 30
• Inver Grove Heights – 9015 Broderick Boulevard
• Coon Rapids – 3340 124th Ave.
• Savage – 14100 Highway 13 S.
• Apple Valley – 15125 Cedar Ave.
• Cottage Grove –7280 E. Point Douglas Road

Rainbow Foods is a great store, competing with budget shopping Cub Foods and upscale Lunds/Byerly's

Compared to Chicago grocery shopping: 

Mariano's is a great store, competing with budget shopping Jewel-Osco and upscale Dominick's Finer Foods.