By November of this year retail store closures were already nearly 55% higher than during the entirety of 2018. That’s according to advisory firm Coresight Research, which put the number of closures at more than 9,000 as of Nov. 1.
The total announced closures could hit 12,000 by the end of 2019, Coresight estimates. “Initially it was something of a surprise, but I think you could see the momentum building as the year went on,” John Mercer, head of research at Coresight, said of this year’s closures. “It’s up very strongly against last year.” he added. “2018 was, in retrospect, maybe something of a lull in closures between two very strong years.”
