Posted on 05/03/2015 4:02:11 PM PDT by dennisw
Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
If the U.S. economy really is improving, then why are big U.S. retailers permanently shutting down thousands of stores? The retail apocalypse that I have written about so frequently appears to be accelerating. As you will see below, major U.S. retailers have announced that they are closing more than 6,000 locations, but economic conditions in this country are still fairly stable. So if this is happening already, what are things going to look like once the next recession strikes? For a long time, I have been pointing to 2015 as a major turning point for the U.S. economy, and I still feel that way. And since I started The Economic Collapse Blog at the end of 2009, I have never seen as many indications that we are headed into another major economic downturn as I do right now. If retailers are closing this many stores already, what are our malls and shopping centers going to look like a few years from now?
The list below comes from information compiled by About.com, but I have only included major retailers that have announced plans to close at least 10 stores. Most of these closures will take place this year, but in some instances the closures are scheduled to be phased in over a number of years. As you can see, the number of stores that are being permanently shut down is absolutely staggering
The truth is that middle class U.S. consumers are tapped out. Most families are just scraping by financially from month to month. For most Americans, there simply is not a whole lot of extra money left over to go shopping with these days.
In fact, at this point approximately one out of every four Americans spend at least half of their incomes just on rent
More than one in four Americans are spending at least half of their family income on rent leaving little money left to purchase groceries, buy clothing or put gas in the car, new figures have revealed.
A staggering 11.25 million households consume 50 percent or more of their income on housing and utilities, according to an analysis of Census data by nonprofit firm, Enterprise Community Partners.
And 1.8 million of these households spend at least 70 percent of their paychecks on rent.
The surging cost of rental housing has affected a rising number of families since the Great Recession hit in 2007. Officials define housing costs in excess of 30 percent of income as burdensome.
For decades, the U.S. economy was powered by a free spending middle class that had plenty of discretionary income to throw around. But now that the middle class is being systematically destroyed, that paradigm is changing. Americans families simply do not have the same resources that they once did, and that spells big trouble for retailers.
As you read this article, the United States still has more retail space per person than any other nation on the planet. But as stores close by the thousands, space available signs are going to be popping up everywhere.
closing:
180 Abercrombie & Fitch (by 2015)
75 Aeropostale (through January 2015)
150 American Eagle Outfitters (through 2017)
223 Barnes & Noble (through 2023)
265 Body Central / Body Shop
66 Bottom Dollar Food
25 Build-A-Bear (through 2015)
32 C. Wonder
21 Cache
120 Chicos (through 2017)
200 Childrens Place (through 2017)
17 Christopher & Banks
70 Coach (fiscal 2015)
70 Cocos /Carrows
300 Deb Shops
92 Delias
340 Dollar Tree/Family Dollar
39 Einstein Bros. Bagels
(more at source)
There's a nearby shopping mall, which has been dying for years. Now it's a depressing place that's about half occupied. Last year a huge construction project stared a few blocks away. It's a new mall.
Ahh, I hadn’t thought about KFC until you mentioned. The local KFC also shut down a couple of months ago.
On the Ross Ghetto Store carts, they have that pole also so you can’t get them out of the store, they hit a barrier (the homeless love shopping carts).
they can increase prices due to shortages and demand on the fewer goods available....their personal can treat the consumers like dirt similar to how the airlines treat common passengers....they can provide fewer amenities, fewer discounts, and can add plenty of add ons....
Wow that brings back memories. My parents took us kids to the Sears in Dallas at Christmas time. I think in ‘65. My dad couldn’t pass up the popcorn counter. We Christmas shopped in one trip usually on a Saturday night. We lived in Richardson at the time and there was some rural land between Dallas and our apartment.
Take a look at Zero Hedge’s tag line.
On a long enough timeline the life expectancy for everyone drops to zero. Or “Were all gonna die!!”.
Yeah they are a downer, but it does detail a lot of the destruction going on that the Party’s media ignores.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.