A Sea Of Red

People close to the company's finances say most of the retailer's earnings came in the form of one-time payments from landlords, often for $2 million to $3 million, each time it opened a Steve & Barry's. There are currently about 275 stores, located in 40 states. Profit from ongoing operations was scant, if any. The new stores usually opened strongly, these people said, but could not keep pace after a few quarters.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB ... d=rss_free

I have wondered how these stores could operate on such low margins based on the pricing.

Lynchburg version never was worth shopping at anyways. I think I went in there once, maybe twice once the newest version of the Starbury's came out (and of course they didn't have the new ones...) and that's about it I believe.

they have decent tshirts but their button up shirts are terrible. buttons falling off after the first wash. they didn't fit me good either. i would probably only buy tshirts there from now on. i don't like their shoes either

S&B expanded waaaay too quickly. To put it in perspective, large retailers have been hesitant to open any stores in the economic climate, and those that do usually go with 5-10 a year. For the most part, most retailers have been consolodating.

And to echo Sly, I don't see how they have any margin with their low prices, even if the product is made cheap, which it obviously is by looking at and wearing it.

I think they could have a future in wholesale, like the article suggests.

I bought a pair of khaki shorts from the one in Lynchburg a year ago for $5. The best pair of shorts I have. I've planned on buying another pair next time I was in the 'burg. Now, I might buy two or more pair.

Whatever Keeps Marbury From Selling Shoes

jcmanson wrote:I bought a pair of khaki shorts from the one in Lynchburg a year ago for $5. The best pair of shorts I have. I've planned on buying another pair next time I was in the 'burg. Now, I might buy two or more pair.

I got some at wal-mart last year for like $7.50 I believe. I've worn them quite a bit and they have held up pretty well. Puritan is the brand...

jcmanson wrote:I bought a pair of khaki shorts from the one in Lynchburg a year ago for $5. The best pair of shorts I have. I've planned on buying another pair next time I was in the 'burg. Now, I might buy two or more pair.

exact same situation for me. I'm still wearing a pair I bought when they first opened in the 'burg.

Sly Fox wrote:I have wondered how these stores could operate on such low margins based on the pricing.

i'm trying to figure if they're arent increasing sales by a couple %s a year (and that'd be just to keep up), and arent increasing their price margin any, how in the world are they operating from only the short spurts of sales volume growth at the opening of a new store? i bet moves such as dropping the price of EVERYTHING in the lynchburg store to <=8.98 is hurting their bottom line. i could be wrong, but i'm fairly confident that decrease in price margin kills...

Unless they are getting it very, very, very, cheap, then your assumption is correct.

Get ready for some big price increases across the board at all retailers. Manufacturers in the industry are raising prices 5-15% to them.

The Lynchburg store is closing. Everything in the store is now $8.98 each. They still had Liberty shirts available as of today.

Man, this sucks. That's like the only place I go. Everything's been $8.98 for a few months though.

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/business ... tore/7976/

There's the link

the level of cheap should reflect the quality. their quality was much cheaper then the prices...