Sears is the latest big box retailer to announce store closings this year. This comes after Walmart’s move to shutter 154 stores nationwide and rumors of Best Buy filing for bankruptcy. To the public these closures may seem alarming, but they come as no surprise to one local company that has been helping large retailers defray closing costs for decades.

 

Based in West Phoenix for 30 years, Surplus Asset Management (SAM) has provides auction, liquidations, sales and reverse logistics services to businesses nationwide. They are often a first-call grocery, restaurant, retail, and big box industries facing a closure.

 

Explains Ben Smith, Chief Strategy Officer for SAM Auctions, “Our top-tier reputation and extensive list of big-name satisfied customers have helped us grow and earned us placements on the Forbes 5000 list, along with being featured in multiple publications as a Company to Watch.”

 

For clients, though, SAM is simply seen as their solution. With a focus on goals that are concrete, measurable, and simple, SAM minimizes waste and maximizes returns, giving those facing a closure or remodel one less thing to worry about.

 

The Cost of Closing

Closing a store can potentially cost a business $1 per square foot to empty the location. With an average supermarket’s size at 45,000 sqft, that can be as much as $45,000 out of pocket just to have equipment cleared out and waste hauled away.  For corporations with multiple closures, and especially for those with several simultaneous closures, the fiscal impact can be staggering. It’s an especially inconvenient impact to companies already dealing with the financial distress of a lost location.

 

Saving by Recycling

SAM helps defray these costs in many ways. Now, equipment, fixtures, and materials that in many cases would have been discarded are no longer entering the waste stream and are instead generating a profit. Clients recoup more of their investment in assets by auctioning in place and typically within 30 days or less, have their property delivered back to them clean, safely capped, and ready to rent. For corporations used to writing a check for store closures, receiving one is a welcomed change.

 

Businesses have always ebbed and flowed. Many chains have overgrown, consumer demand has shifted, demographics and buying patterns have altered, and online sales have played a major role. Throughout the years, industry analysts have seen pushes to localized businesses then back to corporate mega-brands. 

 

Says Smith, “Through it all, retail is always a gamble and there are many players in the game. What has remained a constant is that thanks to companies like SAM, a closure doesn’t have to turn into an added expense.”