Pursuits
Retail Malaise Puts Pressure on Chains to Shutter More Stores
- Macy’s, Sears are among big names closing units in 2017
- U.S. has 24 square feet of retail per capita; Canada has 16
Shoppers walk through the Menlo Park Mall in Edison, New Jersey, U.S
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Reeling from a shaky holiday season and slowing mall traffic, U.S. retailers are facing increasing pressure to close stores as more of their business migrates to the internet.
More than 10 percent of U.S. retail space, or nearly 1 billion square feet, may need to be closed, converted to other uses or renegotiated for lower rent in coming years, according to data provided to Bloomberg by CoStar Group. That’s on top of about 5,000 stores that have been shuttered in the past 18 months, an estimated 50 million square feet of space, according to Clarion Partners.