US Retail Slump to Continue in 2019 With Thousands of Store Closings Due to the rise of online shopping, <br />the retail industry is looking at <br />another rough year. As of Mid-March, 5,300 stores <br />say they will cease operations. Nearly half of the 2019 closings are Payless, which filed for bankruptcy <br />last month. Charlotte Russe will also close approximately 520 stores. Just like Payless, the <br />clothing retail chain filed for bankruptcy in February <br />this year. In addition, Gymboree will <br />close 805 locations in 2019. The child apparel store <br />filed for bankruptcy back in 2017. Last year, a record 155 million feet of <br />retail business space closed their doors.
