Another month, another retail bankruptcy, another ‘win’ for e-commerce, and a ‘loss’ for brick-and-mortar. Houston-based Charming Charlie’s (Private) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 11, which will result in 261 store closings across the country. It is the second bankruptcy in as many years for Charming Charlie’s, which the media roundly blames on the impact of e-commerce. In our opinion, this retailer was doomed to fail, and e-commerce only accelerated its demise.
As such, we believe that e-commerce is only a threat to retailers that do not have what it takes to be successful.