Are Rhode Island Brands Dying?
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Are Rhode Island brands dying?
Today, business is changing at a rapid pace both here in Rhode Island and across the globe, but are we seeing the death and decline of Rhode Island brands at a more rapid pace - and if so, what are the causes?
Health
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn recent months, Rhode Island’s third largest private employer announced that de facto it was no longer a viable concern and put itself up for sale. As GoLocal first reported, Care New England (CNE), which operates Kent, Butler, and Women & Infants Hospitals, entered into a sale to Partners HealthCare — the Massachusetts healthcare group that employs over 56,000 and has an annual budget one-third larger that the State of Rhode Island.
Now, Partners is showing signs that they are concerned about the financial viability of Care New England -- whose CEO, Dennis O’Keefe, recently resigned. The independent ownership of this healthcare group is likely to end sooner rather than later.
For Rhode Islanders who were born in the State, the vast majority were born at Women & Infants. According to the Kaiser Foundation, RI had 10,993 births in 2015 and according to Women & Infants, it was the “9th largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country with approximately 8,500 deliveries per year.”
Care New England once employed over 7,500 employees in the state, but now the number is somewhere between 5,000 and 5,500.
While Care New England has been a major economic and healthcare force in Rhode Island, other longstanding Rhode Island brands are also morphing or closing.
Media
Much of Rhode Island’s media is now owned by publicly traded media concerns whose ownership are located out-of-state, hundreds of miles away from what is taking place here.
WPRI-12’s parent company, Nexstar, is located in Irving, Texas. WJAR-10’s parent company, Sinclair, is located in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Or in the case of the Providence Journal, though a series of corporate ownerships, its ultimate owner is now a Japanese private equity group — SoftBank — located in Tokyo, Japan.
A couple of decades ago, all of these firms were locally owned.
And recently, local music lovers were saddened and surprised when WBRU — the Brown University affiliated top-rated college radio station -- was sold off to a Christian media group.
WBRU was more than just a college station. From the 1970s to the early 2000s, it was one of the most influential rock and alternative rock stations in America. It was where cool emerging bands wanted to stop by and make an appearance — critical to ingratiating themselves to get on the playlist.
WBRU's demise was another signal that independent non-corporate media is becoming scarce.
Benny’s and Retail
The recent announcement that the 93-year-old retail chain Benny’s was closing all 31 of their stores was just a footnote in the decline of brick-and-mortar retail in America, which has been ravished by the shifting behavior of consumers towards online and especially Amazon. On Tuesday, Toys “R” Us announced it was seeking bankruptcy protection as it is saddled with over $5 billion in debt.
“Retail environment is changing…its going online and it's not the only thing, but a big part of it,” said Arnold Bromberg, Vice President of Benny's, on GoLocal LIVE earlier this month.
For many in Rhode Island, Benny’s was a lovable constant, but as the chain winds down operations, with full closure to be complete by the end of the year, 400 Rhode Islanders will lose their jobs.
All three examples — healthcare, media, and retail — are all shifts from local ownership and control to closings and potentially out-of-state consolidation.
Each brand — Women & Infants, WBRU, and Benny’s have special places in the hearts and lives of Rhode Islanders and can’t be replaced by Prime shipping by Amazon or centralized billing in Boston in the potential fate of Care New England.
Related Slideshow: Retailer Store Closings in U.S. Thru June 2, 2017
Related Articles
- Brown’s WBRU to Be Sold to National Christian Radio Group
- What Killed WBRU?
- Brown’s Alum: WBRU Sale Was Coerced & Asking AG Kilmartin to Block Sale UPDATED
- All Benny’s Stores Closing, Amazon Factor Hits RI, 700 Out-of-Work UPDATED
- Benny’s Bromberg Says Family Tried to Sell the Company — GoLocal LIVE
- RI Healthcare Industry Moving Towards Chaos - Partners Acquisition of Care New England in Doubt
- Care New England Signs Agreement With Partners Healthcare for Potential Merger
- 7 Implications and Unintended Consequences of a Care New England and Partners Merger
- “Failure of Health Policy in RI” - Former Director of Health on Care New England - Partners Merger
- Lifespan & Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Look to Form Partnership in RI
