This year, two iconic retail brands — Bon-Ton and Toys R Us — shut their doors in bankruptcy.
Indeed, the year started with several bankruptcies in the early months, hinting that the crush of Chapter 11 filings in the industry, which last year outpaced those during the most recent recession, wasn’t over. After all, many of the challenges to mall and specialty retail remained: declining foot traffic at malls, rapid e-commerce encroachment, shifts in consumer spending and large debt loads for those retailers that have gone through leveraged buyouts.
