A local grocery store chain is opening a new store across the street from an existing one. What will they do with the food in the existing store? Are there companies that specialize in optimizing this sort of inventory move vs. liquidate calculation?
Most likely, the shelves in the existing store will get skimpier and skimpier, and the new store will be opened with all new, fresh merchandise.
The same is going on with the Walgreens I regularly go to. They first decided to close the store over the summer, but later decided to move it to a new building across the street. For the past 6 months, every time I go in there to get my prescriptions filled, the store shelves have more completely empty spaces and what things they still have are in lower and lower quantities. They presumably will move whatever is left on the shelf when it comes time to move, but they would much prefer not having to move as much stuff, even if it means missing a few sales due to not having an item in stock.