Companies that should shut down in 2009

In my retail strategy class we were talking about this article about the companies that may not survive 2009. the class seemed to think there were more companies that would not and should not survive 2009.

The companies were considered dingy, unfriendly, dirty, a miserable shopping experience, etc.

Brookstone: have you ever seen anyone come out of there with a purchase? We always see people 'sampling' their massage chairs and not many actually buying anything. Its basically a bunch of overpriced crap.

Sears and K-Mart: No matter what investors say, these companies should shut down. I pass the local Sears and see maybe 8 cars in the parking lot at any given time. Why is it still around? Sears should stop selling clothes and everything else besides its appliances. And have you been into a K-Mart recently - its dingy. The lights are dim, the staff is not friendly. The place just has a weird smell to it. You almost expect to see cobwebs around the stuff.

Kohl's and J.C Penney: Department stores have been losing market share to discount marketers and specialty stores for many years. The younger generation - aka my retail strategy class hates shopping at department stores. They find the layout confusing and very unappealing. While J.C Penney is definitely a little better (cleaner and brighter) than Kohl's, the class believes both should go.

Books-a-Million: The place smells. And its the same as Barnes and Nobles only uglier. Why would anyone go to Books-a-million when they could go to Barnes and Nobles, Borders or local bookstores?

Limited: The clothes are the same or similar to Express and New York and Co. So why should all three exist? The only reason we believe its going to be Limited is because we've always seen more people at Express and New York and Co. Not to mention their clothes are over-priced and cheap quality.

Others on the list are:
Wetseal
Radio Shack
Levis