The retail apocalypse has proven itself to be alive and well one third of the way into 2019.
Business insider has reported that at least five retailers have already filed for bankruptcy so far this year. Here are the chains that have gone belly-up so far:
- Gymboree filed for bankruptcy on January 17th
- Charlotte Russe filed for bankruptcy on March 6th
- Iesel filed for bankruptcy on March 5th
- Payless ShoeSource filed for bankruptcy on February 18th
- Shopko filed for bankruptcy on January 16th
The so-called “retail apocalypse” has seen a significant number of North American brick-&-mortar locations close down. This has become especially true of large chain retailers, which have started dropping like flies. Major department stores such as Sears, J.C. Penny, and Kmart have closed thousands of locations, and several widely-known fashion brands have become unprofitable.
While E-commerce has provided a great outlet for the retail industry to grow, it has only done so much. E-commerce is driving most of the growth in the retail industry, but E-commerce still only represents approximately 10% of the retail industry in the United States. This figure is increasing steadily.
