Round after round of store closures have riddled the country in recent months, but Springfield seems to have dodged most of the business-killing bullets fired by major retailers.
Other than those that folded under the weight of bankruptcy, retail chains have been disinclined to close local stores as the recession rages on.
After months of cost cutting by national retailers, only electronics emporium Circuit City on South Glenstone Avenue and Battlefield Mall tenants Steve & Barry's and Whitehall Co. Jewellers have faded from the Springfield market. The trio of chains announced plans late last year to liquidate merchandise and close all their stores.
The grim financial reality of plummeting consumer confidence and diminishing disposable income has forced other major retailers to close stores as they attempt to steer clear of the worst-case scenario. Many of those corporations have at least one local store, and so far, those stores have managed to avoid the underperforming hit list.
When it comes to shuttering stores, it seems every retailer has a formula - a formula that spokespeople contacted by Springfield Business Journal declined to discuss in detail.
Starbucks, Macy's, Pier 1 Imports and Office Depot each have a Springfield presence, and those chains have been closing stores throughout the country. That's also the case with Movie Gallery and several mall-based retailers, including Dillard's, Zales Jewelers, Kirkland's and Ann Taylor Loft.
Springfield's key to avoiding store closings may be the number - and loyalty - of consumers within the large trade area it serves, said Linda Pettijohn, a marketing professor at Missouri State University.
"Even though Springfield's population is around 150,000 people, our trading area is much larger - closer to a million people," she said. "Area residents have found it easier and more economical - especially when gas prices were high - to shop in Springfield."
Skipping Springfield?
Before last year's holiday shopping surge came to a close, Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) announced in early December it would close 126 underperforming stores in North America, including four Missouri stores in Wentzville, O'Fallon, Belton and Jefferson City.
Citing sharply lower sales and restructuring expenses, the Boca Raton, Fla.-based office supply chain reported a $1.54 billion fourth-quarter loss in late February. At press time, the company's stock - on a steady descent since early January - was trading down at 85 cents a share.
Despite the glum outlook, though, Office Depot spokeswoman Melissa Perlman said the company has no plans to close its lone Springfield store at 3111 S. Glenstone Ave., which opened in November 1990.
Store manager Kevin Giroux said in an e-mail that small businesses throughout the Springfield metro area make up the core of Office Depot's local customer base.
"We have a very loyal clientele and are committed to being here for them, even as we - and they - weather some of these more difficult macroeconomic conditions," he said.
Giroux said the Springfield Office Depot, which he's managed for eight years, has helped local businesses improve operating efficiency and gain market share during the last 18 years. The store's next-day delivery service has been a major selling point, he noted.
Like Office Depot, Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) and Starbucks Coffee Co. (Nasdaq: SBUX) have been shrinking their store counts for months.
Pier 1 said last month that it had hired an outside firm to renegotiate lower lease rates for its stores. If those negotiations aren't successful, the Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer could close up to 125 underperforming stores, although spokeswoman Whitney Rogers wouldn't say if Springfield's South Glenstone store was among them.
In addition to closing its Independence store in January, Pier 1 nixed three Missouri locations in St. Louis, Kansas City and Cape Girardeau in 2007, Rogers said.
Starbucks also has closed several stores in Missouri, but none in Springfield.
Anna Hazen, a Starbucks spokeswoman with Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, said the Seattle-based purveyor of coffee drinks has been evaluating all aspects of its operations to manage costs and maintain a portfolio of profitable stores. The company announced in January that it would close 200 U.S. stores, on top of more than 600 closed last year. Hazen did not have details about specific store closings expected this year.
Retail roller coaster
Battlefield Mall has dropped two tenants - Steve & Barry's discount clothing and Whitehall Co. Jewellers - from its directory in recent months, but there's no way to know if there will be more vacancies this year, said mall manager Erik Fjeseth.
"You just have no idea," he said, declining to respond to speculation about specific retailers. "Any time a business does well at a location, I think they're going to stay. It all goes down to profitability. And there is a benefit to serving a large trade area."
Fjeseth said the mall - owned and managed by Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. - hopes to announce new tenants later this year. Mall management also employs best business practices to help tenants save money on energy and other cost drivers, he added.
"You look for expense savings. You look to do smart business. And I don't think that changes whether the economy is perceived to be good or bad," Fjeseth said.
Mall anchor Macy's announced in January that it would close 11 stores this year, including one at Crestwood Court in St. Louis, but company spokesman Jim Sluzewski said no other store closings are scheduled this year - for now.
Sluzewski did say that the Macy's at Battlefield Mall has been part of a pilot program called My Macy's that has localized merchandise based on buyers' sizes and color and brand preferences. About 200 stores in 20 broad markets, mostly in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, are part of the program, he said.
"What we've found is that it has really improved the performance of these pilot stores compared to other stores around the country that weren't part of the (program)," Sluzewski said.
Last month, Cincinnati-based Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) reported a 59 percent decline in fourth-quarter earnings, with same-store sales down 7 percent. The company's total sales for fiscal 2008 were $24.9 billion, down 5.4 percent from total sales of $26.3 billion in fiscal 2007.
