BOOM: Courting the Racquet Sports Industry With Robyn Duda

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Tennis remains popular, badminton is having a moment says Pinterest, and paddle is, according to the Washington Post, the next big multi-location winner is racquet sports. We met with Robyn Duda, the co-founder of RacquetX, a new festival for both business and consumers that involves ALL racquet sports, to ask her about the trend. Why […]

Pets are a Profitable Priority for MULO Brands

BOOM: Pets are a Profitable Priority for MULO Brands

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Consumers are spending on their “fur babies” these days in record numbers! Viewed as members of many families, dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, and even rabbits and snakes compel shoppers to take out their wallets to feed, tend to, and even dress their beloved animals. The market size for the the pets care segment was […]

BUST: A Hard Landing as Soft Surroundings Files for Bankruptcy

BUST: A Hard Landing as Soft Surroundings Files for Bankruptcy

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Here we go again…another beloved retailer shutters its brick-and-mortar operations. Soft Surroundings filed for bankruptcy this week. This MULO (multi-location) women’s clothing brand once had 80 locations physical locations (reduced to 44) and is now shuttering all of them. The company, which released its first catalog in 1999, also sold home goods and accessories. However, […]

Party On! Bankruptcy for Party City May Not Be the End

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The media is filled with stories these days of MULO (multi-location) retailers closing stores and doors and declaring bankruptcy. Our BUST series covered Bed Bath & Beyond, Jenny Craig, Christmas Tree Shops, and others.  But before you start ringing the death knell on one more MULO brick-and-mortar retailer or restaurant, be aware that the party […]

BUST: The Wrong Time for Rite Aid

BUST: The Wrong Time for Rite Aid

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Bankruptcies and store closings have hit the retail world hard this year. Bed Bath & Beyond was the most notable, and Christmas Tree Shops and Jenny Craig are among the other retail brands that closed doors in 2023.  Rite Aid is the latest MULO (multi-location) brand to suffer the impact of retail shrinkage. Although the […]

Shuttered Forever or Transformed? 12 Storefront Businesses That Went Poof!

Shuttered Forever or Transformed? 12 Storefront Businesses That Went Poof!

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Is this about nostalgia or a MULO (multi-location) business lesson? Probably a bit of both. In our ongoing BOOM and BUST series, we talk about MULO retailers, restaurants, and service businesses that declared bankruptcy or became obsolete because of management issues or blindness to consumer trends and technologies. Let’s walk down memory lane and reflect […]

BOOM: Barry’s Bulks-up its MULO Brand

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The boutique fitness industry is having a moment.  And Barry’s (formerly Barry’s Boot Camp) is making moves to grow along with it. With plans to quadruple its 48-location footprint by 2030, Barry’s offers a “unique blend of high-intensity (HIIT) cardio, strength training, music, and signature red lights,” according to a profile of the company CEO […]

BUST: Christmas Tree Shops Declares Bankruptcy and Closes All Stores

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We hope the Grinch doesn’t steal Christmas this year, but bankruptcy stole the 82 retail stores of MULO (multi-location) brand, Christmas Tree Shops. The bankruptcy was announced in May, and poor-performing stores were shuttered, but the company recently said that it will close its remaining stores on August 12th, holding a liquidation sale before then. […]

BOOM: Upcycled / Pre-Worn Clothes and the MULO Brands That Sell Them

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Buying pre-worn clothes is nothing new. But it’s now in style for a variety of reasons. After all, places like Goodwill have been around since 1902 and have more than 4,000 locations. In the 1960s and 70s, hippies and their wannabe equivalents flocked to army-navy and other surplus stores to buy jackets, overalls, and other […]

Wild Wing Cafe Declares Bankruptcy

BUST: Wild Wing Cafe Declares Bankruptcy

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Looking at the website of this MULO (multi-location) brand, one would think it has all the makings of the queen of the coop. Wild Wing Cafe boasts locally-sourced ingredients, a loyalty program, live entertainment, and even free wings with a $5 purchase. It states they have “40 locations and growing.” But the franchise just joined a […]

BOOM: Hear This! An Interview with Dean Pappous, President of HearingLife

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We are probably all familiar with MULO (multi-location) eyewear businesses like LensCrafters (900+ locations), Sunglass Hut (1,500 U.S. stores), and Warby Parker (200 locations and a booming online business). But people like Dean Pappous, believe our ears are every bit as critical as our eyes, especially as we age. Hearing loss doesn’t just impact older […]

BOOM: Cookies

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We’re not talking about tracking cookies. We’re talking about the kind we eat. Despite the healthy food trend, people still like a sweet splurge now and then. The snack market is up and estimated at $300B in 2023. The average American eats three or more cookies daily and 35,000 cookies throughout their lifetime. That’s a […]

BOOM: “Bruschetta and Bocce Near Me?” Eatertainment is Surging

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Can you possibly eat cornbread without a rousing game of cornhole? Or what’s a game of mini-golf without a Moscow Mule?  Combine a dining experience with one or many games — physical or digital — and that defines “eatertainment,” a category that’s been growing steadily over the past decade (but paused during the pandemic).  But […]

BOOM: Multi-Location (MULO) “Needles” Businesses: Part 2

BOOM: Multi-Location (MULO) “Needles” Businesses: Part 2

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We’ve already established that people will overcome a childhood fear of needles (or at least cope with it) if they see an upside benefit — like vitamin therapy. The other reason people will allow themselves to be poked with a sharp metal object (in addition to vaccinations and blood tests) is beautification. Multi-location (MULO) aesthetics businesses […]

BOOM: Multi-Location (MULO) "Needles" Businesses: Part 1

BOOM: Multi-Location (MULO) “Needles” Businesses: Part 1

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The IV therapy industry is booming! From hangover cures to vitamin infusions, MULO (multi-location) and mobile businesses are cropping up to fill consumers’ bodies with various liquids designed to give them energy, help them lose weight, and recover from dehydration. The market is valued at approximately $2B and is projected to grow. REVIV was the […]

BUST: Multi-Location (MULO) Restaurants & Retailers Declaring Bankruptcy in 2023

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Although we all watched in dismay (and perhaps fear) as Bed Bath & Beyond and Jenny Craig took nosedives this year, reports of other brands facing the multi-location (MULO) “apocalypse” may contain more than a little hype. Here are some facts: More than 2,100 retail locations are expected to close in 2023, but Bed Bath […]

BOOM: Beyond the Barbells (MULO Specialty Gyms Abound)

BOOM: Beyond the Barbells (MULO Specialty Gyms Abound)

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We live in a world obsessed with longevity and fitness. Exercise has long been a big business. The fitness industry had its renaissance in the 1970s and 80s when the widespread adoption of TV and insights into the role of working out in battling heart disease gave rise to the practices of aerobics and yoga. […]

Hair Care for Men...Beyond Shaves and Haircuts

BOOM: Hair Care for Men…Beyond Shaves and Haircuts

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Hair care post-pandemic is a rapidly-growing multi-location (MULO) category. As we reported recently, the industry was up 17 percent in 2022 and is expected to hit $41B by 2026. Women still spend more on hair care than men. They invest an average of $228 yearly on haircuts and $24 per month on hair products versus […]

We All Scream for Ice Cream (and retailers reply)

BOOM: We All Scream for Ice Cream (and retailers reply)

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The summer is upon us, and many people are seeking ways to cool down. Although the old-fashioned neighborhood ice cream truck is a rarity, multi-location (MULO) ice cream and frozen dessert retailers show no sign of melting. Although the category has declined slightly from time to time, it still represents $5.5B in revenue in the […]

BOOM: Multi-location Target from 1902 to the Future

BOOM: Multi-location Target from 1902 to the Future

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We have no shortage of companies that go BUST. Just in the past few days, we covered the demise of Bed Bath & Beyond and Jenny Craig. The failure of multi-location brands cannot be attributed just to digital options, consumer trend shifts, and bad hires or financial bets. More complex factors seem to go into […]