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Frank's Closures Weighed

TROY, MI-The spaces could go fast, one analyst says. But a REIT observer questions their locations.

By Ian Ritter | Updated on October 08, 2004

TROY, MI-Now that Frank’s Nursery & Crafts has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced its intention to liquidate, what will become of the chain’s 169 stores? Other retailers looking to expand could take on the former Franks stores, or the gardening retailer could reject the leases, leaving them to shopping-center owners, industry observers say.

The filing was Franks’ second in the last few years; the company previously reorganized in May 2002. Its latest was early last month, when the company said, “due to a general weakness in economic conditions, a steady decline in customer traffic and unfavorable weather patters causing a decline in all markets, the company has sustained significant losses from operations.”

The locally-based company faced competition from home improvement chains such as The Home Depot and Lowe’s, but at the same time, the stores, in 14 Midwest and East Coast states, had trouble competing with local upscale nurseries, said Gary Ruffing, a retail analyst at BBK Ltd.

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