Katrina’s Damage

Retailers are beginning to assess the damages from Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast with such force a week ago. Among the early returns:

Wal-Mart has closed 75 stores following the storm, either due to flooding or electricity outages, but has reopened some of the 120 that were closed right after the storm slammed into the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coast.

Dillard's, like other Southeast retailers, was waiting to learn the fate of its Gulf Coast stores. Nine of its department stores remained closed as of Thursday, September 1, and the fate of those stores was unknown.

Discount retailer Dollar General, with many stores in the Southeast, had closed 200 stores along the Gulf Coast; most of those stores were out of commission due to power outages.

Home Depot reported 10 stores in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi remained closed Thursday.

Aaron Rents — with 46 stores in Louisiana, 25 stores in Mississippi and 34 stores in Alabama — remained unclear how many stores survived or what kind of shape they were in. “The current difficulty in communicating to our employees and getting to many of the stores has made an accurate assessment of the damage impossible at this time,” said chairman and ceo R. Charles Loudermilk Sr. “It could be weeks or months before the actual cost of the hurricane can be determined.”

Ruth's Chris Steak House Inc., which is based in Metairie, La., found its home office damaged and blacked out, and moved support personnel to Orlando. The company said its two New Orleans-area restaurants are closed and have suffered wind and flood damage. “As of today, it is not possible to establish a timeline for the reopening of these restaurants,” the company said.