Some of whats going on in the USA will probably have an affect up here.
The retail apocalypse has officially descended on America
Hayley Peterson
Mar. 21, 2017, 5:25 PM
Thousands of mall-based stores are shutting down in what's fast becoming one of the biggest waves of retail closures in decades.
More than 3,500 stores are expected to close in the next couple of months.
Department stores like JCPenney, Macy's, Sears, and Kmart are among the companies shutting down stores, along with middle-of-the-mall chains like Crocs, BCBG, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Guess.
Some retailers are exiting the brick-and-mortar business altogether and trying to shift to an all-online model.
For example,
Bebe is closing all its stores — about 170 — to focus on increasing its online sales, according to a Bloomberg report.
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The US has 23.5 square feet of retail space per person,
compared with 16.4 square feet in Canada and 11.1 square feet in Australia, the next two countries with the most retail space per capita, according to a Morningstar Credit Ratings report from October.
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And people are now devoting bigger shares of their wallets to restaurants, travel, and technology than ever before, while spending less on apparel and accessories.
As stores close, many shopping malls will be forced to shut down as well.
When an anchor store like Sears or Macy's closes, it often triggers a downward spiral in performance for shopping malls.
Not only do the malls lose the income and shopper traffic from that store's business, but the closure often triggers "co-tenancy clauses" that allow the other mall tenants to terminate their leases or renegotiate the terms, typically with a period of lower rents, until another retailer moves into the anchor space.
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http://www.businessinsider.com/the-r...america-2017-3