of the closing of stores a couple of months after the take over?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/so-did-mitt-romney-really_b_1681248.html

Staples

Staples grew into a major chain because they consolidated what different kinds of stores sold, offering a one-stop-shop for stationery products, office supplies, office-furniture, computers, etc. They also were able to be competitive because of the advantages of scale as they grew into a national chain, centralizing functions like accounting, purchasing, legal, marketing, etc. And never underestimate the power of having a ton of cash at your disposal. This is all just smart business, well executed.

As Staples grew it overtook competing chains like Businessland and others. In other words, Staples took business from other, existing stores -- often local retailers. Staples did not "create" jobs, it shifted office-supply jobs from local stores, etc., probably to lower-paying jobs. (The former owners of local businesses certainly were worse off from this.) They likely even lowered overall office-supply, stationery, etc. employment in the larger economy.

Low Wages?

How do these "Romney job creator" jobs stack up against other jobs? Average Staples salaries for job postings nationwide are 51 percent lower than average salaries for all job postings. The pay at Staples appears to be around $8-10 an hour. That's $16-20,000 a year, certainly not enough to support a family, or even pay rent in many areas, never mind buying food. (The 2012 poverty guideline for family of four is $23,050.)

Last edited Fri Sep 14, 2012, 02:12 PM - Edit history (1)

You don't usually get two chances to suck the blood out of the same company.

Well, this will give the Mit-wit something to do after the election.

If he's like to get started early, I think I can speak for all of America when I say, "Sure Mitt. You just go what you need to do. We'll take care of this Presidency thing. You just go and have fun playing with your companies. It's all right. Really."

Looks like Staples will be liquidated soon. Very sad.

I liked that store. It will be out of business within 6 months, and Bain will have cashed in once again...

I stopped shopping at Staple when Mitt started politicizing it early this year. Surely others did as well. It would ironic if the performance suffered due to Romney, who after he loses than makes money flipping the old fashion way

Lots of firms are bought out, taken private, taken public, taken private again. Hotel chains, stores ... here's one example:

"Here's a brief history of how Burger King has been flipped on the private-equity
griddle over the past decade:

Goldman Sachs (GS -0.47%, news) and the private equity firms TGP and Bain
Capital (famous for being co-founded by GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney)
took control of Burger King in 2002. Four years later, they took it public,
extracting a $448 million dividend in the process. Next, Burger King was taken
private by 3G Capital in 2010. Now it's public again, though 3G Capital retains
a 71% stake.

The upshot: In total, private equity has sucked $1 billion out of Burger King
along the way, estimates Howard Penney, the managing director at Hedgeye, a
stock research firm. "It's been a party for Wall Street," says Davidowitz. "The
private equity guys have made a fortune." But like all parties, this one has
come at a cost. "They've been jerking the company around, making a fortune. The
problem is the company is a cadaver." "

http://money.msn.com/investing/why-burger-king-is-no-big-mac-brush.aspx?page=0

debt. By some estimates, each of their stores would have to spend the first $2k to $4k of each day's income on servicing the interest alone. That debt has now ballooned into $1.2B+, and it came due last April. Of course, it couldn't be paid, because they're surviving by a thread, but Bain can't afford to let Guitar Center die during Mitt's run for president. My company relies heavily on Guitar Center and has monthly receivables in excess of $40K. If (when) they go down, a lot of highly dependent companies are going down with it. Very sad... Fender guitars will likely be one of them. Good ol' Bain.