Goody’s Family Clothing has confirmed rumors it was shutting down its e-commerce site. The move to end online sales is one of several steps the retailer of moderately priced apparel announced this week as part of its emergence from bankruptcy.
Along with abandoning e-commerce, the retailer, which filed for bankruptcy in June, closed and liquidated 69 underperforming retail locations in 18 states, shut down a distribution center in Arkansas and an e-commerce warehouse in Tennessee, and closed a corporate office in New York. It also says it eliminated “excessive corporate spending.”
“We believe we have significantly strengthened both our business and capital structure and this will allow Goody’s to continue to build on its 55-year heritage,” says Goody’s CEO Paul White. “Our plan has enabled us to eliminate considerable costs from our business and we now have a profitable store base that is more efficient and productive.”
Goody’s move away from e-commerce comes at a time when online sales are one of the few bright spots for retailers. Forrester Research Inc. forecasts 12% growth in e-commerce spending over the holidays compared to the 1.9% overall 2008 holiday retail spending predicted by trade association the National Retail Federation.
The NRF also predicts more consumers will shop on the web in November and December. 44% of shoppers will buy gifts online, and the Internet will influence 33.6% of holiday purchases, up from 30.2% last year and 28.9% in 2006, the trade group projected in its holiday spending forecast.
It seems other budget-friendly merchants are taking those figures as hints to get in on the online market, just as Goody’s departs. Closeout retailer Big Lots announced this week it is launching an e-commerce site.
A link to a Goody’s online shopping account still resided on the merchant’s web site as of this afternoon. But a click on that link leads visitors to a blank page.
Last month the retailer hired a new chief merchandising officer, Lynn Hempe, who the company said would be responsible for e-commerce, merchandising, product development, planning and allocation.
Goody's Family Clothing is headquartered in Knoxville, TN. Goody’s Holdings Inc., the parent company of Goody’s Family Clothing, is a privately held company owned by GMM Capital LLC, PGDYS LLC and PGDYS Lending LLC.
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