Linens'n'Things becomes a victim of the credit crunch, housing crisis

[originalpckelly]

http://www.reuters.com/article/fundsFundsNews/idUSN149870520081014

They may start liquidation as soon as Thursday. :-(

I'll miss them, I used to go there and get everything I needed around the house. So many fuzzy blankets and pillows. :-(

[barbtries]

1. well, if you have any cash

now would be the time. i might check them out. i feel for the people who will be losing their jobs.

[originalpckelly]

2. I know that a lot of college kids used to work there...

that's what is so sad. So many kids may not have enough money to go back to school now.

[originalpckelly]

5. The article says that 17,500 people are employed there...

that's a lot of people. I bet like my area they're college kids too.

[EFerrari]

3. I'm going to miss them, too.

:(

[originalpckelly]

4. The story specifically says that although they were in bankruptcy...

it looks like the credit crunch is what actually brought them down. They could find a buyer, because no buyers could get enough credit to buy them out.

[barbtries]

6. i think THIS is the story

we'll be seeing over and over as time goes on. this is where the greedmeisters' shenanigans squeezes us all and more and more of us feel the pain.

[originalpckelly]

7. In addition to everything about LNT, the story says other stores will be next...

that we should expect a massive wave of bankruptcies in '09 as they reveal how poorly they did in the holiday sales season. More people will be out of work now.

[malaise]

8. I love Linens 'n' Things

I'll miss my pepper blend.

[EFerrari]

11. When we moved back from the edge of functional homelessness

and started building the business, I bought our linen and towels there on line. It was such a pleasure to be able to shop for something new and reasonably priced. Nice to have towels and a place to keep them! lol

This is a shame. :(

[colinmom71]

9. I think I'll be heading out tomorrow to go shopping!

I love their Genesis towel line and we do need more... And hey, shopping is the new patriotic, right? :sarcasm:

I hate to lose those stores though. Terribly sad for all the employees involved...

[csziggy]

10. They closed their store here several years ago.

I really missed them when it came time to buy new sheets (that actually match) for the new house.

The good news is that the local, cooperatively owned health food store expanded into the slot where Linens & Things used to be. It will be great once they are finished with their remodeling - the store will be twice as big and be able to carry more locally grown veggies and things and more socially and environmentally aware goods.

[SoCalDem]

12. Linen & Things became a "victim" of Too-muchism

Two stores down from our Linen & Things is a bed, Bath & Beyond...and right across the parking lot from both of them is Target..which is right across the street from Walmart and down the lane from Marshalls...and across the parkway is Costco.

THERE IS NOT ENOUGH BUSINESS TO SUPPORT ALL OF THESE STORES WHICH ALL SELL PRETTY MUCH THE SAME THINGS...FOR PRETTY MUCH THE SAME PRICES...

Competition is fine, but when there are just TOO many of the same type of store, cannibalism sets in, and sooner or later they ALL suffer, and most will fail...leaving the "survivor" with a monopoly, and resulting HIGHER prices...

In-your-face capitalism is relatively new to most towns.. When there was a real "Main Street", businesses sought to open their "similar" businesses in DIFFERENT locations to try and catch a part of the market.. You would NOT see two shoes stores right beside each other.. The only businesses that did face-to-face competition were the gas stations, because they often set up shop on opposite corners, to catch different traffic flow