Disappearing Brands: So Long, and Thanks for the Fish

One day you’re Big Man on Campus, the next the vultures are circling over head. Lululemon is not dead, but the mere fact that people are speculating on its disappearance not long after it was seen as a great success illustrates the challenge of the consumer space.

The financial news site, 24/7 Wall St. proffered its list of brands that will disappear in 2015. Their criteria are:

• Declining sales and losses;
• Disclosures by the parent of the brand that it might go out of business;
• Rising costs that are unlikely to be recouped through higher prices;
• Companies that are sold;
• Companies that go into bankruptcy;
• Companies that have lost the great majority of their customers; and
• Operations with withering market share.

The 10 are:

1. Lululemon: Declining sales and losses
2. DirecTV: took over
3. Hillshire Brands: took over
4. Zynga: Declining sales and losses
5. Alaska Air: Possible takeover target
6. Russell Stover: auction block
7. Shutterfly: Declining sales and losses
8. Time Warner Cable: Probable takeover target (by Comcast)
9. BlackBerry: Declining sales and losses
10. Aeropostale: Declining sales and losses