There are opportunities in Jacksonville for Stein Mart employees who are losing their jobs, but the available roles may be in different lines of work.
Around 500 people in Jacksonville will lose their job because the off-price fashion retailer is going out of business, according to an estimate from the company’s lead independent director, Richard Sisisky.
In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Stein Mart cited “difficult business conditions” in the retail industry.
“In general, retailers have experienced decreased store traffic and have lost market share to fast-growing e-commerce retailers. The declines in store traffic have been especially pertinent for apparel and accessories retailers, such as the Company, which have also experienced lower operating margins as a result,” the filing said.
It said COVID-19 store closures caused further problems for retailers. The second wave in July caused more decline in store traffic, leading to the bankruptcies of Brooks Brothers, Lord & Taylor, Ascena (Ann Taylor) and Tailored Brands (Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank), among others.
“The Company’s sales decline in July 2020 made it impossible for the Company to propose a realistic repayment plan for the outstanding accounts payable owed to vendors from the initial COVID-19 shut-down,” the filing read.
Stein Mart is “no exception” to retail trends that mean more people shopping online and fewer in-store, said Jacksonville University marketing and international business professor Doug Johansen.
“Quite simply, more and more consumers are choosing to shop for these types of products online,” Johansen said.
“Changing demographics reflect the fact that certain established markets with more traditional shopping preferences are shrinking.”
With all of those retailers struggling, jobs are on the decline. From February to July, 913,000 retail jobs have been lost nationwide, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
In the five-county Jacksonville area, there were 74,200 jobs on retail trade business payrolls in July, down by 7,100 from July 2019, when there were 81,300 jobs in the sector, according to data from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
Of the 500 Stein Mart jobs, some are headquarters employees and others are retail workers.
Candace Moody, a freelance career development consultant and former CareerSource Northeast Florida communications vice president, said headquarters employees may have an easier time finding work that is similar to what they were doing before.
“They are the ones who are going to find opportunities in other industries that might not be quite as volatile as retail is right now,” she said.
There may be retail positions in stores considered “essential” during the pandemic, such as supermarkets, pharmacies and home improvement stores. For Stein Mart retail workers who want to return to a similar environment, it may be a challenge, Moody said.
“Cleaning companies are going to be really expanding, Amazon delivery,” she said. “Those kinds of things are always available. It’s not a question of whether there’s a job available for them, but is it a job they want to do.”
Moody said a lot of workers may need to take temporary measures to earn income, “and when we get to the other side of this, to see what’s available to them.”
University of North Florida economist Albert Loh said that the jobs lost as a result of Stein Mart closing “will be difficult to recover.”
When the labor market is still slowly recovering, he said, losing those jobs “is a notable setback.”
Ron Whittington, CareerSource Northeast Florida communications consultant, said he thinks the market can absorb unemployed retail workers looking for jobs.
In the case of Stein Mart workers, they may not find a clothing store job immediately, but there are thousands of other retail openings.
According to CareerSource Northeast Florida data, there are 7,400 active retail postings in the six-county Northeast Florida area, Whittington said.
Of those, the employers with the most retail openings include Circle K, Winn-Dixie, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Walgreens, AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, Speedway, Dollar General and Dollar Tree.
Although online retailers like Amazon are held somewhat responsible for large retailers closing, its presence in Jacksonville could provide laid-off workers with new employment.
“Amazon’s got a lot of opportunity,” Moody said. “(But) it’s a very different job than helping women decide on the best party dress at Stein Mart.”
For those looking to make a career change, Whittington said retail workers may be a good fit at financial institutions, which often hire for teller, clerk and customer service positions.
Moody said some retail workers may be a good fit for customer service centers.
“If you’re good, you’ll be able to find a job at another place,” she said. “People are still hungry for good employees.”
