For one thing, there's no question that online retailing has poached a huge portion of the market share from these traditional retailers. And secondly, anyone involved in commercial real estate will tell you that there has been excess retail capacity in the U.S. for decades. If you measure the ratio of retail floor space in the U.S. to the U.S. population over time, you'll find that the number grew fairly steadily from the 1940s to the 1980s, then went through the roof in the 1980s and 1990s.
America simply doesn't need all the retailers -- and all the shopping malls -- we have right now.
“but the statistics cited here are highly misleading. “
I don’t think the statistics themselves are misleading, but zero hedge’s interpretation of them IS misleading, that is, as most here are pointing out, the causes of sinking sales are driven more by other factors than the economy, e.g., increased online shopping, and inconvenience, pricyness, and unsafeness of covered mall shopping.