More than 90 million square feet of retail space has been shuttered this year, and with the retailer Bon-Ton announcing this week it would close 200 of its stores, 2018 is on track to break last year's record for lost stores.
"This is just another example of one of those big box retailers who weren't nimble enough and really listening to the changing times," said Melissa Gonzalez, founder and CEO of Lionesque Group.
In the first four months of 2018, retail giants like Toys "R" Us, Sears, and Sam's Club have closed all or some of their locations. Moody's distressed-level watch list predicted that others, such as Guitar Center, J. Crew, and David's Bridal could be next.
There have already been more store closures in 2018 than there were in all of 2016. And as each brick-and-mortar shop shutters, it creates potential customers for online retailers like Amazon.
"They have data at their fingertips, they're really at the pulse of understanding what consumers want," said Gonzalez in an interview Friday on Cheddar. "They can serve up the items that you know we want, and present things online before we even know we want them, and they can target us in ways department stores aren't able to do."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/2018-the-year-of-retail-closures).
Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has avoided starting her more than 11-year prison sentence on Thursday by deploying the same legal maneuver that enabled her co-conspirator in a blood-testing hoax to remain free for an additional month.
When people think of asset classes, most think of stocks and bonds. Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst with Bankrate.com, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the current economy is making the cash savings account a more worthwhile investment than it's been in previous years.
The National Labor Relations Board said Tesla was found guilty of breaking U.S. labor law after telling employees to not discuss or complain about wages.
Christine Short, vice president of research with Wall Street Horizon, joined Cheddar News to discuss Wednesday's trading session as positive earnings from some tech companies lifted stocks. "This is the safe haven for investors, the barometer of global growth depending on the company we're talking about," she said.
