They just can't bank on five or six items to succeed out there. Morgan agreed that the market was picking up, but said that, for retailers, it's become a fight for market share as opposed to just volume growth. Overall, the market still shows slight growth year to year. The Southeast is a tough market. But that's where everybody put their stores 10 years ago.
Most experts say the consolidation in the industry is far from over.
Even bigger retail players are looking to close stores, despite posting profits. No exact locations have been announced and company Chief Financial Officer Steve Schneider declined to say if any of the Atlanta stores were targeted. It's the apparel that's hurt us quite a bit. Schneider said one of the bigger concerns among large-scale retailers was Nike's move to a midpriced shoe. For the first time in a while, the average price per pair of shoes had stabilized in 2000.