Large Retail Stores are closing faster than ever

The American retail industry has been taking some hits recently which has been forcing stores from large and not-so-large companies to close their doors.

The well known shoe chain Payless filed for bankruptcy and announced it would be closing hundreds of locations, while Ralph Lauren said it will be closing its well-known Fifth Avenue location. Analysts estimate there could be over 8,000 stores closing in 2017, and majority of these are chain-stores.

Many stores are trying to re-emerge as e-commerce brands in an effort to move in to the obvious new retail space of the internet. Kenneth Cole and Bebe are both planning to close almost all of their locations in an effort to join the e-commerce party, but even with the massive efforts taking place, the current e-market leader is still Amazon.com, which accounted for 53 percent of e-commerce sales growth  in 2016.

Still, according to research, customers prefer to shop at physical stores 75 percent of the time, and interest in local stores and small businesses has become a growing trend. The key, is to create the right customer experience, something many small businesses have been making a priority.

​Many creative agency's, like The J Design, have been working with small businesses to perfect their brand.
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Whether it's online or off, retailers need to focus on their delivery and keeping up with emerging trends. If you're brand is well developed, it's a good time to be a small business!