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October 9, 2017 • Issue 17:10:01

Retail revitalization underway

has seen a total net increase of 4,080 stores, including re-
tail and restaurants, with 5,500 new stores scheduled to
open in 2018.
As an indicator of renewed confidence in the economy,
U.S. retail sales through July were up $121.5 billion year-
over-year, according to IHL Group. All totaled, chain
stores opened 14,248 locations and closed 10,168. Catego-
ries with the highest sales growth included convenience/
gas, do-it-yourself/home goods, off-price mass merchants,
and cosmetics/vitamins retailers. Sporting goods and de-
partment stores saw sales decline.

"We're still very bullish on retail," said Henry Helgeson,
co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cayan LLC.
"When you look at consumer spend, it's actually going up
in-store, and that's creating an opportunity for SMBs and
By Ann Train retailers that are more nimble and have a more future for-
ward vision."
espite predictions that a retail apocalypse is
eminent due to record U.S. store closings in Granular level retail data
recent years, retail performance overall has
D more than weathered the storm. Changing The Strawhecker Group's Acquiring Industry Metrics da-
consumer preferences, technological advancements, over- tabase offers insights directly from the retail trenches. It
supply of large-footprint legacy stores, compression of the collects and aggregates merchant level data anonymously
middle class, and resurgence in spending are all contribut- from nearly 30 merchant acquirers representing more than
ing in various ways to a fresh retail landscape where new 3.5 million card-accepting merchants. In collaboration
models blur traditional channel lines. with the Electronic Transactions Association, Strawhecker
released its latest U.S. Retail Spending Report Card in Sep-
In late September 2017, Fung Global Retail & Technology, tember.
which tracks select large retailers primarily in the apparel,
department and warehouse segments, revealed that 6,101
stores closed this year, and 3,381 stores opened; fallout is
attributed in part to overbuilding of physical stores. Ac- Contributed articles inside by:
cording to Fung, after an extended period of store expan-
sion, the United States topped the world with 23.5 square
feet of retail space per person in 2016. Brandes Elitch ........................................................................................23
Steven Feldshuh ...................................................................................36
Among the 1,804 retail chains with 50-plus U.S. stores Don Bush .................................................................................................40
in the 10 vertical segments IHL Group tracked, for every
chain with a net closing of stores, 2.7 companies realized TOC on page 3
a net increase in store locations in 2017. Based on IHL
Group's Debunking the Retail Apocalypse report, this year

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