Free Republic

Retail stores are being shut down at a staggering rate all over the country. If we stay on the pace that we are on, the total number of stores closed in 2024 will be nearly 40 percent higher than the total number of stores closed in 2023. That is what you call a crisis! Meanwhile, banks are shuttering hundreds of branches from coast to coast, and a “restaurant apocalypse” is sweeping across the nation. Everywhere around us, “space available” signs are going up on buildings that were once considered to be prime commercial real estate. If someone tries to convince...

ransomnote: The Expose is over the target and taking flak, banned and censored - even Paypal turned against them in an effort to deprive them of funding. Please pray that the Expose receive the funds it needs to keep serving the public.Quebecers headed to IKEA, Wal-Mart, Costco, Canadian Tire and other big retail stores now have to show proof of vaccination and government-issued ID at the door.The new measure, introduced on Monday 24th Jan 2022, effectively limits people who haven’t received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to purchasing only essential goods — and it’s already frustrating those who have...

While Apple is currently re-closing stores due to COVID-19 outbreaks, Microsoft today announced that it is closing its retail stores for good. Microsoft retail locations shut down in March as the coronavirus pandemic hit, and it seems that the downtime has given Microsoft management time to reflect on their plans. In a company statement, Microsoft today announced a “strategic shift” in retail operations, which means they are shifting to all-online sales and support. The Microsoft retail stores will not reopen, and the closures will cost Microsoft about $450 million in expenses. Microsoft will keep a smaller retail presence in the...

What a better way to celebrate the rigged markets that are telegraphing a "durable" recovery, than with a Credit Suisse report showing, beyond a reasonable doubt, that when it comes to traditional bricks and mortar retailers, who have now closed more stores, or over 2,400 units, so far in 2014 and well double the total amount of storefront closures in 2013, this year has been the worst year for conventional discretionary spending since the start of the great financial crisis!From Credit Suisse's Michael Exstein Since the start of 2014, retailers have announced the closure of more than 2,400 units,...

Get ready for the next era in retail—one that will be characterized by far fewer shops and smaller stores. On Tuesday, Sears said that it will shutter its flagship store in downtown Chicago in April. It's the latest of about 300 store closures in the U.S. that Sears has made since 2010. The news follows announcements earlier this month of multiple store closings from major department stores J.C. Penney and Macy's. Further signs of cuts in the industry came Wednesday, when Target said that it will eliminate 475 jobs worldwide, including some at its Minnesota headquarters, and not fill 700...