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).
Adam Bry, co-founder and CEO of drone manufacturer Skydio, joined Cheddar News to discuss the company's latest funding round and the Russia-US drone collision.
Credit Suisse saw its shares stabilize after the Swiss National Bank approved a loan of nearly $54 million for the company. A top investor notified Credit Suisse on Wednesday that it wouldn't be able to provide further assistance to the lender.
Cheddar News breaks down what surge pricing is and how it works as a variety of businesses are taking notes from models long used by airlines and ridesharing companies to boost profits.
Fewer Americans applied for jobless claims last week as the labor market continues to thrive despite the Federal Reserve's efforts to cool the economy and tamp down inflation.
Stocks rallied after a group of big banks offered a lifeline to the bank Wall Street had zeroed in on in its hunt for the next victim in the industry’s struggles.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday evening said its long-awaited digital payment system, the FedNow Service, will start operating in July. The service is designed to provide a national platform for financial institutions to settle payments in real-time and at lower cost. That could include large banks, payment processors, and the U.S. Treasury.
