2015 and up store closings

• 180 Abercrombie & Fitch (by 2015)
• 75 Aeropostale (through January 2015)
• 150 American Eagle Outfitters (through 2017)
• 223 Barnes & Noble (through 2023)
• 265 Body Central / Body Shop
• 66 Bottom Dollar Food
• 25 Build-A-Bear (through 2015)
• 32 C. Wonder
• 21 Cache
• 120 Chico’s (through 2017)
• 200 Children’s Place (through 2017)
• 17 Christopher & Banks
• 70 Coach (fiscal 2015)
• 70 Coco’s /Carrows
• 300 Deb Shops
• 92 Delia’s
• 340 Dollar Tree/Family Dollar
• 39 Einstein Bros. Bagels
• 50 Express (through 2015)
• 31 Frederick’s of Hollywood
• 50 Fresh & Easy Grocey Stores
• 14 Friendly’s
• 65 Future Shop (Best Buy Canada)
• 54 Golf Galaxy (by 2016)
• 50 Guess (through 2015)
• 26 Gymboree
• 40 JCPenney
• 127 Jones New York Outlet
• 10 Just Baked
• 28 Kate Spade Saturday & Jack Spade
• 14 Macy’s
• 400 Office Depot/Office Max (by 2016)
• 63 Pep Boys (“in the coming years”)
• 100 Pier One (by 2017)
• 20 Pick ’n Save (by 2017)
• 1,784 Radio Shack
• 13 Ruby Tuesday
• 77 Sears
• 10 SpartanNash Grocery Stores ** 55 Staples (2015)
• 133 Target, Canada (bankruptcy)
• 31 Tiger Direct
• 200 Walgreens (by 2017)
• 10 West Marine
• 338 Wet Seal

http://retailindustry.about.com/od/USRetailStoreClosingInfoFAQs/fl/All-2015-Store-Closings-Stores-Closed-by-US-Retail-Industry-Chains_4.htm

Some of these people are using gold and silver in their trades, but increasing numbers are using Bitcoins

People are making many very strange things :-)

Alcohol and cigarettes are best money replacement for trade in the crisis

This is much better proposal.

@ahbleza buying a not-overpriced parcel of land is usually best idea. Alcohol and cigarettes are best money replacement for trade in the crisis

What scares me is that we haven't hit bottom yet. It's been a slow motion crash for the last ten years.

+1
IMO the sinking started long ago, big ships need longer time to sink. The global world economy was fatal error of the politics (and politicians) based on short term thinking.

Where we are now is nothing new, it is replay of the situation around 1900 when imperialism and monopolism destroyed world's economy.

Yet, ending of one means beginning of two- after the global economical crash of 2000ies humans can start again with preparing the next crash, likely in the 2100ies. Ha,ha,ha- homo sapiens is able to visit the shools and universities, but it is unable to learn.

@Vitaliy_Kiselev You've hit the nail on the head. The credit industry is out of hand here. It's just one aspect of the financial industry, which has grown to be a gigantic parasitic tumor. Nothing but greed.

I remember when I worked retail how we were pushed to sign people up for credit cards as a sales technique. I rarely had the heart to push the cards. I remember the few times that people tried they always seemed poor and ignorant. It seemed likely they'd never pay it off and were being fooled by low/zero short term interest rates. The stuff we sold wasn't essentials either, I always wanted to tell people: hell, don't buy this crap on credit. Get something cheaper that you can actually afford. Or buy your kid some clothes or food instead.

I actually did well in sales, but I couldn't stomach it. I could see that the bottom was all going to drop out soon.

What scares me is that we haven't hit bottom yet. It's been a slow motion crash for the last ten years.

Actually, I worked a few years at Ritz stores in college.

Perhaps you are right. I think both factors are significant.

Most of these reflect societal shifts. Americans now buy more books in e-book form than printed. They may be buying less overall. And when they do buy them, it's often through Amazon.com. Individuals are also paying more attention to their spending. Whether the Consumer Confidence Index is up or down, actual consumer confidence has changed and people just don't seem to view 'disposable income' in the same way they used to. It's unlikely these societal shift will reverse themselves and retailers are aligning themselves to this new reality.

The shares fell 17 percent to $17.57 at the close in New York, the worst performer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. J.C. Penney yesterday said its net loss in the quarter ended Feb. 2 widened to $552 million from $87 million a year earlier. The Plano, Texas-based retailer’s annual revenue slid 25 percent to $13 billion, the lowest since at least 1987.

Via: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-27/j-c-penney-posts-wider-fourth-quarter-net-loss.html

Wow, Penny's and Radio Shack - grew up on those places - back when they had mail order.

Haha. Online sales tax coming soon!!! Of course higher sales tax rates. Oh don't forget about VAT.

Amazon tacks on Texas sales tax for my purchases. If they're an online entity with physical co-location within the state (I think that's how they differentiate) they have to tax the purchase. With so many big companies moving their financial headquarters here or support (like Apple for instance) I've pretty much just accepted the fact I'm going to pay sales tax no matter who or where I buy from.

Not sure I follow what you mean. They are being as competitive as they can given the current market.

Nope, biggest online retailers work in deep minus if you cound real consumer goods. They get free money from banks and investors to finance deficits.

Of course VAT is not imposed. But there seems growing support. Tax more on those who can buy. Tough to argue with that.

About the online sales tax, yes some states do. And more states will do this year.