Dive Brief: Musical instrument retailer Sam Ash Music announced Thursday that it began store closing sales at all its retail locations after 100 years in business. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce that effective May 2nd 2024, all Sam Ash Music Store locations will begin store closing sales,” the company said on its website, Facebook and Instagram pages. Signs of trouble emerged earlier this year, when the New York-based company reportedly moved to close nearly 20 locations,...

Dive Brief: After 42 years, 99 Cents Only Stores is going out of business. The company said Thursday it plans to close its entire store fleet — 371 locations across California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada. 99 Cents Only has tapped Hilco Global to liquidate its merchandise starting Friday, and Hilco Real Estate will oversee the sale of all owned and leased real estate. After years of challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, persistent inflation, shifting consumer demand and rising shrink...

Dive Brief: BuyBuy Baby plans to open 11 stores Saturday, the company confirmed in an email to Retail Dive. The retailer has planned celebration events at all locations, which are entirely on the East Coast. The company said its online store is also set to reopen this fall. The stores are located in West Hartford, Connecticut; Newark, Delaware; Rockville Maryland; Bridgewater, Iselin, North Cherry Hill and Paramus, New Jersey; Amherst and Scarsdale New York; Braintree Massachusetts; and...

If toy retailers post a good holiday season this year, they can thank a big cast of characters that includes Barbie, Mario, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo – and Optimus Prime. Amazon, Target, Walmart and Toys R Us are major players in U.S. toy retail and they’ve all released their top toy lists for this holiday season in recent weeks. All of those lists have some similar recommendations in that they feature familiar intellectual properties that had a movie release this year....