Cushman & Wakefield predicts 12,000 stores will close in 2018, up from 9,000 last year, Business Insider reported. Another 25 major retailers could file for bankruptcy this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s estimates per Business Insider.
Walgreens, Sears, Bon-Ton Stores, Destination Maternity Corp. and Stein Mart are among the companies most likely to file for bankruptcy within the year, Business Insider reported.
Additionally, Commercial real estate firm CoStar estimates that 310 of the 1,300 malls in the U.S. are at high risk of losing an anchor tenant such as Macy’s or JCPenney, Business Insider reported.
Things are so bad, that Mall Owners have recently sued the likes of Starbuck and Whole Foods to force them keep their stores open.
Bright Spots in Retail
However, not all is doom in gloom in the retail sector. There are plenty of retailers, mostly discounters, that are growing their physical assets while others shrink.
Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Lidl, Aldi, Ross Stores, and TJ Maxx are planning to open hundreds of new stores next year. Dollar General had planned for nearly 1,300 new stores in fiscal 2017 and is looking to open 900 new locations in fiscal 2018. Dollar Tree came in second with about 650 new stores in 2017.
