Retailers in distress aren’t so different from everyone else. They face the same market vagaries, the same broad swings in consumer behavior and the same uncertainties involved in trying to anticipate the future.
Balance sheets can make the difference between a company that is facing down bankruptcy and one that is simply weathering a short-term macro headwind. Then again, others have made bad bets on their business investments or on where their consumer or the world is going. Still, others carry a long history of unprofitability before it finally catches up with them. Their model might never have been sustainable.
