<> on April 17, 2017 in New York City.
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The bloodbath at retail that’s seen more than 3,600 stores closures announced since January isn’t over yet.
We could reach the 10,000 store-closure mark by the end of the year, according to credit consulting service F&D Reports.
Read more: 2017 retail closings — What you need to know
F&D’s research has identified 34 retailers suffering from poor sales and too much overhead that it says will likely announces more store closures en masse or bankruptcy filings before the year is out.
We should note that some of the stores listed here — Sears, Bloomin’ Brands and Ruby Tuesday, in particular — have announced anywhere from dozens to more than 150 store closures this year already.
Meanwhile, it’s been widely reported that others like Gymboree and J. Crew are facing imminent bankruptcy.
Yet in the midst of all the media coverage, one important point is sometimes overlooked: It’s not just Amazon killing off the brick-and-mortars. It’s also that we’re way “over-stored” in the United States, as money expert Clark Howard would say.
“We have far too many retail locations, shopping centers and branches of different chains,” the consumer champ notes. “But stores that are meeting your needs with low prices will continue to thrive.”
The sad truth for ailing retailers is that we have 24 square feet of retail space for every person in the United States, according to F&D.
By comparison, Canada — the next country on the list with the most retail space — has 16 sq. ft. of retail space per capita.
Australia — the third most heavily retailed country in the world — has only 11 sq. ft. That’s less than half the square footage of retail space per capita that we have!
Read more: Lidl — Aldi’s archrival — announces first store openings
This post was last modified on May 29, 2017 9:02 pm
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