U.S. retailers face a wave of store closings, bankruptcies
and takeovers starting next month as holiday sales are shaping
up to be the worst in 40 years.
Retailers will close 12,000 stores in 2009, according to
Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting and investment-
banking firm Davidowitz & Associates Inc. in New York.
AnnTaylor Stores Corp., Talbots Inc. and Sears Holdings Corp.
are among chains shuttering underperforming locations.
More than a dozen retailers, including Circuit City Stores
Inc., Linens ‘n Things Inc., Sharper Image Corp. and
Steve & Barry’s LLC, have sought bankruptcy protection
this year as the credit squeeze and recession drained sales.
The holiday results indicate possible consolidation and further
bankruptcy filings, according to Gilbert Harrison, chief executive
officer of retail advisory firm Financo Inc.
“You’re going to see deals that you never thought
you were going to see before because of the necessity of both
parties,” Harrison said in a Bloomberg Television interview
Dec. 26.
Sales at stores open at least a year probably dropped as
much as 2 percent in November and December, the International
Council of Shopping Centers said last week, more than the
previously projected 1 percent decline. That would be largest
drop since at least 1969, when the New York-based trade group
started tracking data. Many retailers will report December
results on Jan. 8.
Consumers spent at least 20 percent less on women’s
clothing, electronics and jewelry during November and December,
according to data from SpendingPulse.
