Once again, I am revising this. It has been a month since I wrote the original article. I haven't had time to keep up with posting the layoffs, stores closing etc. I have added a few, also have seeded some articles that define the state of our country as truely Ironic. Arizona is now so far behind in processing unemployment claims, that they have had to HIRE more workers.
What follows is article as of November 11th.
This has been revised. I am now including layoffs from other then retail sectors also. (adding them in the comments section, and you can add any you know of, that I have missed.
The original article was as follows:
Going out of Business Sales, right before the holidays!!!
So, just like any other red blooded American, when I hear "Going out of Business" sale, I marched right down to my local K-mart and roamed the store looking for deals. (Never mind the fact that I haven't shopped in there in years, a good deal is a good deal).
So.. there must be a K-Mart near you, also going out of business, and maybe you will be lucky enough to find something other then a sinking feeling in your stomach. After all, Kmart Corp. will close 284 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, cutting about 22,000 jobs.
Circuit City, also a store I have visited in the past, but honestly not very often, we journeyed over there to see their "deals". On Monday, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and said that the number of job losses was likely to rise to 8,000.
Mervyns - The store of the once addictive "Open, Open, Open" commercials, shortly, they will be "closed, closed, closed" for good. They plan to liquidate over the holidays, sales have already started. There will be a lot of employees affected once the stores close in January. When the store filed for bankruptcy, it had 18,000 employees.
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Linens N Things (okay, I admit, I have never been in one, and probably will skip their sales) once the second largest U.S. home furnishings chain and now in bankruptcy, is conducting liquidation sales at its 371 stores. I couldn't find the number of employees who are going to loose their jobs.
Ann Taylor, an upscale clothing retailer shutting 117 stores nationwide, Foot Locker, an athletic apparel retailer closing 140 throughout the nation, and Macy's, cutting nine stores in the United States. Pacific Sunwear has closed 150 stores while Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines are shutting a total of 150 outlets.
So, the point I am making is this... so many people are loosing jobs that a "Clearance" sale, "To the walls" everything must go... etc. does not hold the same fun and excitement for me as it once did.
I remember standing in line at going out of business sales, with my retail value $90 prize, now only $9 in my hand. Talking, joking, having fun with the others in line, nearly a party atmosphere, making sure to watch my cart full of "deals", so no one else would try to snag one for themselves. But, that was the 80's, things are different now. Instead of dollar signs, I see the jobs lost.
I find it funny that the term layoff is used. Layoff sounds nice, like it's temporary, like they might get the job back, even though we all know that the jobs are just gone.
If anyone is interested in more information, there is a government website "Mass Layoff Statistics" where you can (sort of) keep up on what is going on. The latest information they have is from October, so some things have changed since then, but they keep track of all businesses that layoff more then 50 people.
http://www.bls.gov/MLS/
