This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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With the "coronadoom apocalypse" once again rearing its ugly head, governments are increasingly looking at and implementing another round of lockdowns. Thanks to research by RetailDive, we have a sense of the massive impact of COVID-19-related lockdowns on America's retail sector.
Let's look at some additional data to help us put into context the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on America's retail sector. In 2019, 17 major U.S. retailers filed for bankruptcy as shown on this listing:
In total, 9,548 retail stores were closed during 2019, setting a new record according to Coresight Research.
As we entered 2020, America's retail sector was already distressed given high levels of debt and cash flow problems because of lowered sales. This year is proving to be an even worse year than 2019 as shown on this list of the 29 retailers that have filed for bankruptcy so far in 2020:
Here are the number of stores for each retailer that has declared bankruptcy so far in 2020:
Guitar Center – 297
Furniture Factory Outlet – 68
Century 21 – – 13
Stein Mart – 283
Tailored Brands – 1450
Lord & Taylor – 47
Ascena – 2764
The Paper Store – approximately 80
RTW Retailwinds – 553
Muji USA – 19
Sur La Table – 130
Brooks Brothers – >250 including factory stores
G-Star Raw – >400 franchise stores worldwide, 30 outlet stores
Lucky Brand – 251
GNC – >4800 including 1000 franchise in the United States
Tuesday Morning – 490
Centric Brands – 96, 344 shop-in-shop locations
J.C. Penney – 846
Stage Stores – 786
Aldo – 850 in North America
Nieman Marcus – 38, 2 Berfdorf Goodman, 5 Last Call
J. Crew – 506
Roots USA – 7
True Religion – 87
Modell's Sporting Goods – 137
Art Van Furniture – 176
Bluestem Brands – online
Pier 1 – 540 in United States and Canada
SFP Franchise Corp – 254 in United States and Canada
As you can imagine, this means unemployment for hundred of thousands of retail employees who have little chance of regaining employment at another beleaguered bricks and mortar retailer as you can see on this table from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics which shows that the number of unemployed Americans in the wholesale and retail sector has jumped from 732,000 in October 2019 to 1.333 million in October 2020:
While some of these retailers are attempting to reopen once they have restructured their debts or sold themselves to a private equity group, the future looks grim for their former employees no matter what may transpire, particularly if we are in an economic environment where rolling lockdowns continue for any length of time. On the other hand, as the pandemic has showed us, Amazon and Walmart are more than willing to step up where America's retailers have failed.
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