Between 20,000 and 25,000 retail stores may close this year.
Between 20,000 and 25,000 retail stores may close this year, twice the number as last year, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to have an impact on consumer behavior. That was the message delivered by John Harmon, senior analyst of Coresight Research.
Harmon was a presenter on a webinar hosted by Planalytics on Wednesday afternoon. Harmon said he’s expecting there will be a U-shaped recovery as retailers navigate government-dictated staged reopenings across the country, but business is not expected to immediately return to post-pandemic levels. Although Coresight is predicting a “return to relative stability,” he said, many retailers are preparing for a holiday season that will find consumer demand to be down 20 percent from 2019. In the last five weeks, he said, two-thirds of consumers were buying more online than they had previously. But what they were purchasing was mainly food and sanitation products, home office supplies and fitness equipment, Harmon said, or a “high prevalence of products for survival,” such as gloves and bread-making machines. Apparel was not tops on the list. At the same time, he predicted that post-lockdown, consumer demand will be changed dramatically. More than 48 percent of consumers say the first thing they’ll do is meet with friends, 37 percent will get a haircut, 28 percent will go to a restaurant, and only 18.6 percent will buy apparel, footwear or accessories. And when they do go back to a fashion store, they’ll need to accept the “new normal,” of wearing masks, gloves, social distancing and having their temperature checked before shopping. While businesses don’t have much control over the pandemic, the one thing they can understand and work with is the weather. Evan Gold, executive vice president of global partnerships for Planalytics, predicted shoppers “will be more attuned to weather than ever before” and will want to shop for seasonal merchandise in season, rather than before. So retailers need to make sure they have the right product in their stores at the right time, Gold said. He said Memorial Day weekend will see a “warmer trend” for most of the country and June will be cooler on the coasts, warmer in the middle of the country and wetter in the West. “As consumers venture out, it’s imperative that you have product on your racks to meet their demand,” he said.
Please follow us on Google to support us United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Another Retail Goodbye: Jeffrey Stores Close PermanentlyNordstrom has made the decision to close all three Jeffrey stores as a result of the Covid-19 crisis' impact on retail.
Read more »
Home Depot's stock falls after profit misses, while revenue and same-store sales beatShares of Home Depot Inc. undefined fell 2.5% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the home improvement retailer reported a fiscal first-quarter profit that...
Read more »
Coronavirus live updates: U.S. cases surpass 1.5 million; retail earnings show strong salesThe coronavirus has infected more than 4.82 million people globally, and killed at least 318,851 people as of Tuesday.
Read more »
S&P 500, Dow edge lower after mixed retail earningsThe S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes eased on Tuesday, handing back some gains from a strong rally in the previous session, as investors digested a mixed set of quarterly results from retailers including Home Depot and Walmart.
Read more »
Urban Outfitters predicts 60% fall in same-store sales on slow recoveryApparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc on Tuesday projected a 60% decline in same-store sales in the second quarter due to tepid demand recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, sending its shares down 6% in extended trading.
Read more »
Lowe's shares soar after same-store sales surge 11.2%Lowe's shares rose more than 7% in premarket trading Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings.
Read more »