A buyer buys at a Ross store.
Francis Dean | Corbis | fake pictures
As coronavirus cases increase at various hot spots across the country, some retailers may be at greater risk than others of having to close their stores again.
Covid-19’s higher rates have tended to follow state and local government decisions to open restaurants, nonessential stores and personal care services. While no state has reversed the reopening phases yet, some states have slowed down.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, adviser to coronavirus of the White House, said Tuesday in a hearing in the Congress that he does not believe that the states have to return to the closing, but they can consider to return to the previous phases of reopening as they increase the cases.
Investment firm Instinet analyzed a dozen states that as of last Friday had reported record levels in new Covid-19 cases: Florida, Texas, Utah, South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, Missouri, Montana, Arizona, California, Tennessee and Oklahoma. In many of these states, cases have only grown since. Both Florida and California reported record one-day increases again on Wednesday.
The table above shows selected retailers and analyzes the percentage of their total stores in the US. USA Found in those 12 states. The information for these calculations was extracted from the companies’ annual reports. Instinet found that the retailers with the highest exposure are the Ross, Costco and O’Reilly Auto Parts chain stores. Others on the list include AutoZone, Ulta Beauty, the owner of TJ Maxx, TJX, and Burlington.
Instinet analyst Michael Baker said in a note to clients on Wednesday that another round of closings would hurt so-called discretionary or clothing retailers more than those places, such as Walmart and Target, which were deemed essential during the pandemic.
“To the extent that that means there is the potential for stores to need to close again, as Apple recently announced, this trend could affect our sales estimates of half of half,” he said.
Apple announced last week that it planned to close 11 stores in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arizona for the second time, as Covid-19 cases increased in those areas. On Wednesday, he said he would close seven stores in Houston.
Apple’s decision was made at the corporate level, rather than through a government mandate. Other companies could make similar decisions.
Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh joined CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Wednesday morning to say the jeans maker could also close another round of stores.
“We are seeing it every day in a couple of states,” Bergh said. “There is a possibility that we may have to close more doors.”
Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that travelers arriving in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from regions with increasing Covid-19 infection rates will be subject to a 14-day quarantine.
The Dow plummeted, as traders became more concerned with the reopening and recovery of the economy.
—CNBC’s Mercedes glass contributed to this data visualization.
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