Retail, retail, retail. Retail has been sector facing what has been described as a retail apocalypse for the past decade. As many as 9,300 stores were expected to close in 2019 alone, with 1.3 million retail workers losing jobs during the past 10 years. The speed of consumers’ shift to ecommerce and online spending has really affected the sector.
Such store closures continued into early 2020 — and then COVID-19 hit, and the speed of closures only accelerated. It is not only large brick-and-mortar properties closing up, but small businesses and mom-and-pop stores as well as. Retailers have confirmed at least 7,500 U.S. store closings for 2020. As of October, retailers had announced plans to close more than 130 million square feet of store space this year, according to CoStar. More than half of the space is accounted for by the closures of retailers J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Stein Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond and Pier 1 Imports.
And now the holiday season is upon us, wi
