Retail apocalypse: 80,000 more retail stores could close by 2025

FILE

FILE

The future doesn’t look bright for brick-and-mortar stores.

UBS analysts predict that another 80,000 retail stores could close by 2025, according to a new report published. The analysts estimate that anywhere from 30,000 to 80,000 stores will need to close to maintain “low-single digit sales” for retailers by 2025.

The 80,000 figure assumes that there’s 2 percent total retail sales growth, while the 30,000 figure assumes there’s 3 percent sales growth, according to the report.

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The retail industry has seen small, short-term gains. March retail sales increased 0.3 percent seasonally adjusted over February and 5 percent year-over-year as the economy continued to grow, the National Retail Federation said this week.

Online and other non-store sales were up 7.6 percent year-over-year and up 0.8 percent over February seasonally adjusted, according to the NRF.

“This is a healthy spending report despite market volatility, unseasonable weather and uncertain economic policies,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “Consumers continue to show resiliency in spending, and these numbers reflect how the economy is performing with a strong job market, gains in wages, improvements in confidence, rising home value and judicious use of credit. The biggest risk to spending is in market fluctuations that could affect confidence, but we expect these basic improvements in economic fundamentals to continue.”

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