The State Of The Store Manager 2010

By Matt Pillar, Integrated Solutions For Retailers magazine

What a difference a year makes. At the time we published our July 2009 State Of The Store Manager report, retail managers were already enduring the sixth month of an 18-month freefall that only a quarter ago reversed course. Jobs were dropping like prices at Wal-Mart, and trade rags charted the Chapter 11 death toll in their headlines and on their websites; Bi-Lo, Crabtree & Evelyn, Drug Fair, Eddie Bauer, Escada, Filene's Basement, Gottschalk's, Ritz Camera, S&K Famous Brands ... we witnessed the fall of more than 35 major brands that left tens of thousands of vacancies on the North American retail footprint.