A few thoughts:
-As others have pointed out, the video rental chains were/are likely to go out of business anyway. It’s just a dying industry. The rental kiosks and digital cable on-demand movies pretty much make them obsolete.
-A few of the names look like what I call “trendy mall brand” stores. Places like that tend to be really hot for a while, then fall out of favor (though I continue to pine for my beloved Chess King and its endless supply of skinny 1980s’ ties :-) )
-Waldenbooks is well, Waldenbooks. I genuinely am surprised they’ve lasted this long. Everyone I’ve been to has underwhelmed me. They had an okay selection, but nothing compared to a chain like Borders or Barnes and Nobles.
-All of that said...there are a boatload of major retail places out there bleeding an ocean of red ink. Obamanomics may not be the only problem for some of them, but it sure ain’t helping matters. We’re in the soup, and I’ve got a feeling that we’re not going to see significant improvement in this area of the economy for a good long while.
I think people generally have a much more positive outlook on small businesses than what is reality. Most of the small stores you pass by on the street probably look financially “OK” from the outside, but if you could take a look at their books, it would be quite a different story.