Retail Roundup: Steve & Barry's Set to Close, Sears on Thin Ice, More

(MoneyWatch)  Steve & Barry's to say goodbye --- Steve & Barry's is preparing to announce this week that it will close its doors forever, according to a WSJ article that cited two people familiar with the chain's troubles. In October, BNET reported that S&B announced plans to close 103 of its 276 locations shortly before the company welcomed Harold Kahn on board as the new CEO. Yet these changes apparently were not enough to resurrect the floundering chain: Bay Harbour Management LC, a private equity firm that acquired 175 of the company's stores, hired a liquidation firm to handle the upcoming sales; S&B will join Mervyns and various smaller retailers hosting liquidation sales throughout the holidays. [Source: Reuters]

Holiday season could determine Sears' future -- Sears has found itself walking a fine line with little room for error as analysts ponder whether the retailer will be able to make it though next year. With most U.S. economists predicting that retail sales won't improve until at least the spring, the holidays could prove to be a make-or-break season for Sears, says credit analyst Sean Egan with Egan-Jones Ratings Co. "If they don't ring up terrific holiday sales, it's going to be fairly difficult for them to survive to the next holiday season," he says. [Source: Chicago Tribune]

Target aims to battle Wal-Mart's low prices -- While Wal-Mart has spent the last several years revamping its merchandise to offer "basics," Target has been busy inking contracts with international designers like Josh Goot and Stella McCartney. Yet, the recent downturn may have Target execs rethinking their strategies (the company has just posted its fourth consecutive quarterly profit decrease). Target is now "absolutely committed to being priced with Wal-Mart in all identical markets," said Kathee Tesija, executive vice president of merchandising. The chain also decided to cut its 2009 capital expenditures from $4 billion to about $3 billion, CFO Doug Scovanner said Nov. 17. [Source: CNNMoney]

Home Depot becomes latest retailer to launch Spanish site -- More and more retailers are expanding their e-commerce offerings by launching new versions of their Web sites in different languages. On Nov. 17, Home Depot Inc. launched an updated Spanish site, Espanol.homedepot.com, that gives shoppers access to about 40,000 products -- the same number available on HomeDepot.com's English-language site. Other chains that have rolled out Spanish-language sites include Avon Products Inc. and Best Buy Co., both of which are among the Internet's top 50 retailers, according to the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. [Source: internetretailer]