Excerpt
Another historic day in the retail apocalypse. According to multiple Business Insider reports, more than 680 stores closed today. Leading the pack was Tesla closing 378 stores, Gap 230 stores, Victoria’s Secret 54 stores, and JCPenney 27 stores.
In a surprise announcement on Thursday, Tesla said it was closing “many” of its 378 retail stores around the world as it shifts to an online-only sales model.
That will mean another round of layoffs at the electric automaker like affected some 7% of its workforce in January in a bid to cut costs following its production ramp for the Model 3.
Tesla did not respond to questions from Business Insider about how many stores will be closing, or how many employees might be affected.
“Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected,” the company said in a blog post.
Gap, JCPenney, and Victoria’s Secret announced more than 300 store closures over the course of 24 hours this week, sending a clear signal that the fallout from the retail apocalypse is far from over.
Gap said Thursday that it would close 230 namesake stores over the next two years as it reported that the brand’s same-store sales fell 7% during the holiday quarter. The company also said it would spin off its Old Navy brand.
Earlier in the day, JCPenney said it would close 27 stores in 2019, including 18 full-line department stores and 9 home and furniture stores. The department-store chain said same-store sales fell 4% during the fourth quarter.
Victoria’s Secret’s same-store sales also fell during the holidays, dropping 3% during the quarter. The company said late Wednesday that it would close 53 stores this year, citing a “decline in performance.”
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