US retailers closing stores at a record rate so far in 2019

 from CNN…

So far in 2019,

US retailers have announced 

that 5,994 stores will close. 

That number already exceeds 

2018's full year total of 5,864 

closure announcements, 

according to a Coresight 

Research report.

“I expect store closures 

to accelerate in 2019, 

hitting some 12,000 by year end,” 

said Deborah Weinswig, founder 

and CEO of Coresight.

That would break the old 

annual record by about 4,000.

At this time last year, 

there was optimism 

for the retail industry. 

Foot traffic at shopping centers 

rose steadily, before peaking 

in August 2018.

According to data analytics firm Thasos, 

which uses more than 100 million 

mobile phones to track when 

consumers enter and leave 

certain trade areas, foot traffic

has been declining since August 2018.

S&P still has a negative outlook 

on the United States retail sector 

and predicts that roughly 12 

of the 136 retailers that it rates 

will wind up defaulting this year

-- four times the average annual 

default rate.

For autos, the six-month average 

of dealer stocks of cars and trucks 

matches the highest since 2009,

at 75 days of inventory

(based on current sales). 

March 2019 U.S. freight 

total shipment volume,

by truck, rail, air, and barge, 

was 1% lower than last year, 

according to the 

Cass Freight Index.