King Mystery
Member
article said:Thousands of mall-based stores are shutting down in what's fast becoming one of the biggest waves of retail closures in decades.
More than 3,500 stores are expected to close in the next couple of months.
......
According to many analysts, the retail apocalypse has been a long time coming in the US, where stores per capita far outnumber that of any other country.
The US has 23.5 square feet of retail space per person, compared with 16.4 square feet in Canada and 11.1 square feet in Australia, the next two countries with the most retail space per capita, according to a Morningstar Credit Ratings report from October.
Visits to shopping malls have been declining for years with the rise of e-commerce and titanic shifts in how shoppers spend their money. Visits declined by 50% between 2010 and 2013, according to the real-estate research firm Cushman & Wakefield.
And people are now devoting bigger shares of their wallets to restaurants, travel, and technology than ever before, while spending less on apparel and accessories.
As stores close, many shopping malls will be forced to shut down as well.
When an anchor store like Sears or Macy's closes, it often triggers a downward spiral in performance for shopping malls.
LINK - The retail apocalypse has officially descended on America
There's also slideshow showing the current state of some of these stores and malls.