February 4, 2016

Major retailers shutting down hundreds of stores

Popular Resistnce - Major retailers in the United States are shutting down hundreds of stores, and shoppers are reporting alarmingly bare shelves in many retail locations that are still open all over the country.  It appears that the retail apocalypse that made so many headlines in 2015 has gone to an entirely new level as we enter 2016.  As economic activity slows down and Internet retailers capture more of the market, brick and mortar retailers are cutting their losses.  This is especially true in areas that are on the lower portion of the income scale.  In impoverished urban centers all over the nation, it is not uncommon to find entire malls that have now been completely abandoned.  It has been estimated that there is about a billion square feet of retail space sitting empty in this country, and this crisis is only going to get worse as the retail apocalypse accelerates.

We always get a wave of store closings after the holiday shopping season, but this year has been particularly active.  The following are just a few of the big retailers that have already made major announcements…

-Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, including 154 inside the United States.

-K-Mart is closing down more than two dozen stores over the next several months.

-J.C. Penney will be permanently shutting down 47 more stores after closing a total of 40 stores in 2015.

-Macy’s has decided that it needs to shutter 36 stores and lay off approximately 2,500 employees.

-The Gap is in the process of closing 175 stores in North America.

-Aeropostale is in the process of closing 84 stores all across America.

-Finish Line has announced that 150 stores will be shutting down over the next few years.

-Sears has shut down about 600 stores over the past year or so, but sales at the stores that remain open continue to fall precipitously.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Another perspective would be to consider all of this " ... good riddance of bad rubbish". If all that sustains a society is its ability to "shop", that society is in deep trouble. Yes, the article references "real estate" in the shopping collapse, and names the internet as the primary culprit. But the internet can't be far behind. Credit cards/debit cards must be approved, and therein lies the ultimate disaster. But, not really. Our entire "raison d'etre" needs deep revision. The sooner the better.

greg gerritt said...

Time to turn the consumption centers into production centers. Turn them into farms and grow food for communities in food deseerts and food swamps.

Anonymous said...

Since wages are so low for the vast majority, underemployment is rampant, healthcare is cost prohibitive, and basic expenses like rent, utilities and food are too high, most people can't afford to buy necessary goods in a timely fashion. The retail collapse is not because of the internet, it's because too few people have enough income to even keep up with replacing worn out basics, much less buying anything extra.

Anonymous said...

g. g.'s comment is "right on". I add: How about housing the homeless, which this news presages an increase.

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