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).
Alexander Reed, chief investment officer of Envisage Wealth, joined Cheddar News to discuss Thursday's market session amid weak economic data and ahead of Friday's jobs report.
The capacity to burn coal for power went up in 2022 despite global promises to phase down the fuel that’s the biggest source of planet-warming gases in the atmosphere, a report Wednesday found.
Rob Hocking, SVP, Head of Product Innovation at CBOE, joins Cheddar News to break down how the VIX is calculated, what role the VIX plays in the options market, and how investors can use the VIX Index to manage risk.
Adam Coons, chief portfolio manager of Winthrop Capital Management, joined Cheddar News to discuss Wednesday's market session amid weak job market data and what lies ahead in the near-term future.
In a clash of fast casual titans, Chipotle Mexican Grill is filing a lawsuit against Sweetgreen for trademark infringement. The salad purveyor recently released a meal offering called "Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl," which Chipotle said is being marketed in a "very similar" way as its own products and includes many of the same ingredients.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell this week as the labor market continues to hold up in the face of the Federal Reserve aggressive campaign to cool the economy and bring down inflation.
Wall Street is drifting amid mixed trading Thursday, threatening to send the S&P 500 to its first losing week in the last four following some discouraging reports on the economy.
The upcoming trial in a voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News for airing false allegations of vote fraud in the 2020 presidential election will not include testimony about the Jan. 6 uprising at the U.S. Capitol, a judge ruled Wednesday.
