Despite the year being more than halfway over, the pace of store closures doesn’t appear to be slowing down in the retail industry. More companies piled on the bad news this week.
So far, 7,062 store closures have been announced by U.S. retailers this year, according to a tracking done by Coresight Research. And the tally could top 12,000 by the end of 2019, setting a new record, Coresight says. Last year, Coresight tracked 5,524 store closures, down more than 30% from an all-time high of 8,139 closures announced in 2017.
With the back-to-school shopping season and winter holidays looming, most retailers planning to shut stores this year have already shuffled through those announcements so they can shift their focus toward the industry’s busiest times. But analysts say there are still some exhausted businesses teetering on the brink of survival, as sales continue to shift to the internet and younger brands like Warby Parker, Casper and Allbirds steal shoppers’ attention.
Read more about the pace of store closings in the retail industry on the CNBC website HERE (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/13/retail-store-closures-in-2019-freds-charming-charlie-and-more.html)
