Abercrombie & Fitch stock plunged 25% on Wednesday. JCPenney stock is trading at $0.80 per share, down from a high of $80 in early 2007. And Dressbarn is closing down entirely.
What to watch: Now comes the trade war. Hallmark doesn't expect to be able to exempt greeting cards from the next tranche of Chinese tariffs, according to an internal memo seen by Axios' Dan Primack.
- Hallmark imports around $500 million worth of products from China each year, including plush toys and Christmas ornaments. That puts the potential tariff impact at more than $100 million, at least some of which the company expects to pass on to consumers.
- "Hallmark and our suppliers cannot absorb the full impact of the increased cost," says the May 15 memo. "Despite all supply chain creativity, it will not solve the whole problem."
Why it matters: The trade war is already hurting retailers, if only in terms of the amount of time that company executives are being forced to spend on contingency planning. Worse is yet to come.
Over 8,000 store closures have been announced so far in 2019, including:
— Mitch Nolen Retail (@mitchnolen) May 22, 2019
❌2,354 Payless
❌798 Gymboree
❌674 Dressbarn
❌522 Charlotte Russe
❌367 Shopko
❌263 Fred's
❌250 Chico's
❌250 Things Remembered
❌230 Gap
❌190 Family Dollar (net)
❌170 LifeWay
❌150 Walgreens pic.twitter.com/6eaXk80lfO
Go deeper: Trump's trade war sends retailers into a maelstrom
