Well, the official stats won't be in for a couple weeks now, but all are indications are that this was a pretty dismal holiday season for retailers. In fact, the past year as a whole was rather humbling. Chapter 11 filings, liquidations, pleas for more time to restructure or for extended lines. A quick cruise around the financial pages reveal the bleeding carcasses of 2008: Circuit City, KB Toys, eToys.com, Linens 'n Things, Steve & Barry's, and Mervyns department stores—just to name a few. More store closings are expected in the fallout from the lack-luster Christmas selling season. Many retailers had hoped Christmas would be their bailout.But not everyone has suffered. Apple, Inc. had a good year, buoyed by the success of its iPhone release. And online retailer Amazon.com said the 2008 holiday season was its "best ever," with more than 6.3 million items ordered. A recent AP report cites the online gaint’s bestsellers included the Nintendo Wii, Samsung's 52-inch LCD HDTV, the Apple iPod touch and the Blokus board game. Amazon was cited for doing a great job of offering deals and driving customers to its site, and promoting the notion that "the best possible prices" were frequently on Amazon.com. Even struggling Borders Group, Inc.was granted a bit more time to dig itself out of its hole and complete a sale of Paperchase Products unit, staving off immediate bankruptcy rumors. While that doesn’t make it a winner per se, at least it keeps this book industry standard out of the losers pile. For now.
So farewell 2008. You were the best of times, you were the worst of times. You are now one for the history of time. And here’s to 2009! May it be as intense and challenging and savagely beautiful as those before it. (And may we all do a better job with it, too.)
References: Associated Press; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28389904/
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