CALIFORNIA BUSINESS MINUTE
Retail Closures
07-17-08
Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.
The International Center for Shopping Centers, ICSC released a report, Retail Real
Estate Business Conditions that estimates the number of stores it expects to physically
close in 2008 projected to be at nearly 144,000.
This figure is up 7 percent from the prior year and the largest increase in at least 14 years.
However, the organization is quick to point out that it expects a similarly large increase in
new retail store openings this year.
The reports estimates are based on ICSCs own set of leading indicators and surveys
combined with data on the number of business establishments from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
In context, there are more than 1.1 million retail establishments in the U.S., according to
the 2002 census, the latest to track the figure. And the number of new stores opened each
year often comes close to the number closed, even in tough times, the ICSC report says.
In 2006, for example, 123,000 new stores opened and 139,000 closed. The data suggest
that the retail industry is more efficient today and less susceptible to economic storms
than in the recent past said the report.
I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.
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