High-profile bankruptcies and store closures have gutted some of the nation’s biggest retailers — and that’s during good economic times.
Now, amid fears that the United States is headed toward recession, analysts say another reckoning might be in store as a slowing global economy, volatile stock market and new tariffs are likely to take their toll on American consumers in coming months.
There is little middle ground left in the retail industry: Companies are either doing brisk business or struggling to hang on, analysts say — a trend that is likely to become even more pronounced if the economy sours.
“If there’s another recession — and I think there will be soon — everyone gets knocked down,” said Mark Cohen, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School and the former chief executive of Sears Canada… The Washington Post