Refinery 29
Could Mall Brands be Reddit’s next trade show target?
Signage outside a Chico’s FAS Inc. store in Fort Myers, Florida, USA, on Monday, March 3, 2020. For the third quarter, total sales improved 14.8% from the thirteen weeks ended August 1, 2020, driven by robust digital performance and increasing store sales. Photographer: Eve Edelheit / Bloomberg via Getty Images As of Friday, redditors on the r / WallStreetBets subreddit began targeting short sellers on Wall Street – market makers and hedge funds betting on the price of a stock falling. It started with GameStop, the high school GameCube game store. With gamers regularly visiting online stores and thousands of GameStop stores closed, hedge funds were confident that the store’s stock would continue to decline. That’s why they use boatloads of money to make a profit. For those of you unfamiliar with short selling, according to Refinery29 Work & Money writer Whizy Kim, it works like this: “Step one, borrow someone else’s stock. Step two, sell them right away. Step three, wait for the stock price to fall and buy the same number of borrowed shares. Step Four: Return the borrowed stock and make a profit on the price difference. So when redditors decided to put their money into GameStop, pushing the company’s stock price from $ 18.84 on New Year’s Eve to over $ 250 at the time of writing, all the hedge funds involved were forced to sell their shares at a loss. GameStock valuation skyrocketed – on Tuesday, it was worth over $ 10 billion Quick update on today’s trading: Express Inc: + 245% AMC Theaters: + 230% Blockbuster Video: + 181% GameStop: + 125% Nokia: + 50% Build-A-Bear: + 45% BlackBerry: + 24% Bed Bath & Beyond: + 23% Tootsie Roll: + 14% – Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) January 27, 2021 Same thing happens with other forgotten brands of the years 00, like Build-A-Bear, Blockbuster and BlackBerry, which are hidden in the back of our brains, only to be brought up in conversations about childhood birthday parties and Brick Breaker. Fashion may have been hit too, according to a tweet from Bloomberg anchor Jon Erlichman rose to vo orraad of clothing store Express yesterday with 245%. Despite Wedbush analyst Jennifer Redding telling Bloomberg that the Ohio-based retailer is “bleeding money” as a result of the pandemic, more than 350 million Express shares were traded Monday – a record high for the apparel chain – and their shares nearly doubled. According to Business of Fashion, Express isn’t the only fashion brand that might be on Reddit’s radar. The publication speculates that the next WallStreetBets conquest could be the parent brands. Analysts speaking with BOF shared that the same small investors from WallStreetBets who bought shares in GameStop, Blockbuster, and more are now ready to do the same with shopping center stocks like J.Jill and Chico’s, especially as restrictions have been put in place. place to slow down trading in GameStop and AMC stocks. Despite the rising demand for beige, boxy button-downs layered over turtlenecks and wide leg with cuffs – the comfy, neutral clothes that appealed to the mothers of the ’90s and’ 00s were the stores known for struggling through the for years. The pandemic has made things worse. According to WWD, the parent company of retailers such as Chico’s, White House Black Market and Soma lost $ 178 million in the first wave of the pandemic; In December, Retail Dive reported that J.Jill continued to lose $ 24.1 million, with sales declining 30% in the third quarter. According to Susan Anderson, a B. Riley Securities analyst quoted in BOF, because some fashion retailers have such low market caps, meaning it’s cheaper to infiltrate their stocks, they are perfect targets for Reddit’s next round of, “What brand? can we tear down Wall Street with the next? ”Of course, even if WallStreetBets members squeeze into J.Jill and Chico’s stock, causing price and value to rise, it doesn’t necessarily mean either will survive in the long run . As we’ve learned from the J.Crews and Lord & Taylors of the world, the mall’s mainstays failed to serve the interests of the internet-conscious consumer, even before the pandemic. And despite the fact that the Diane Keaton-in-Something’s Gotta Give aesthetic is up-and-up in vogue – as evidenced by the clogs and billowing shirts that are trending straight – from where we sit it doesn’t look when the brands that have shown off in the past are invited to the ride. Refinery29 reached out to Express for a comment, but had not heard back at the time of publishing. Do you like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness here? Why Everyone Is Talking About GameStop Stock J.Crew Files For Bankruptcy What Topshop’s Demise Means For Millennials