Brick and Mortar Continue to Struggle as Shoppers Scatter

The amount of retail in some markets continues to outpace demand, leading to continued store closures around the country. Bloomberg reports that the ongoing hollowing out of the retail sector has not slowed down, leaving storefronts and malls across the country either vacant or struggling to stay afloat. This trend can be partially attributed to an oversupply of new retail space in some areas of the country that lack the population to support it.

...shuttered stores and dying malls haven't brought construction of new retail space to a halt. A collection of 55 U.S. metros will add 831 million square feet of retail space in the next five years, CoStar projects. That's about 50 percent less space than the industry added in the five years beginning in 2000, though it comes as e-commerce continues to grow.

The report notes that areas of the country that have seen population declines, including Cleveland and Chicago, are being the hardest hit by retail closures as the buying power of these areas has shrunk even as some builders keep adding new retail space.