February 2009 Retail Industry Key Indicator Numbers Beat Expectations

Compared to the 91,000 layoffs last November, and the 88,000 retail jobs lost in December, February's numbers are quite palatable. They're not tasty, but at least they don't make you want to gag.

When Circuit City locks the doors of its stores nationwide for the last time on Sunday, the lines at the unemployment office will get a little bit longer, though. Undoubtedly some of the 30,000 Circuit City employees abandoned ship when the company announced its liquidation plans in January.

When I was in one of its stores last week looking for GPS closeout prices, there were still plenty of red polo people around. Granted, they were all standing behind the digital camera counter chatting to each other, but you can't really be mad at them for their bad customer service any more. Their livelihood is vanishing, so how much can you expect them to care?

There weren't many must-have deals at Circuit City, by the way. At least there wasn't enough of a markdown to offset the risk of purchasing a non-functional product that couldn't be returned and wouldn't be replaced, in my opinion.

Since the Circuit City website hasn't been updating its store listings, I would need a GPS to find one of the last few Circuit City stores still open tomorrow for final GPS markdowns. Even in liquidation, the chain's regard for its customers shines through.

Besides the nearly defunct electronics retailer, Ann Taylor, U.S. Cellular, and Dillard's were the only major retailers to announce a small number of store closings this week. Only regional retailers Better Bedding Shops and Robbins Bros. filed Chapter 11 this week. The retail industry has seen worse weeks than this one and worse months than February, 2009. At a time of recessed expectations, "not too bad" is the new "pretty darn good."