Retailers were hoping against hope that door-busting sales could salvage the holiday shopping season. It didn’t happen.
The recession and factors like bad weather over the last two weeks contributed to the slowest retail holiday season in 38 years. With such dismal shopping numbers, Strategic Resource Group estimates that 160,000 stores will have gone out of business in 2008 and 200,000 more will shut down in 2009.
“We’re going to close malls, we’re going to close chains, we’re going to close stores,” said Howard Davidowitz, the chairman of retail consulting firm Davidowitz & Associates. “The American standard of living is changing forever.”
Analysts estimate that 2,000 to 3,000 malls will go bankrupt by June 2009 as big chains like KB Toys, Linens n’ Things and the Sharper Image go out of business entirely, and other big-name stores, like Ann Taylor, Talbots and Foot Locker shut dozens of low-performing locations. Even huge department stores, like Dillards, Saks and Nordstrom are scaling back.
