25% of usa retailers may go bankrupt , page-5

From that article - "Granted, many retailers are perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy".

What they fail to do is compare the current situation to normal. I am a wholesaler and since I started in business 9 years ago very few of my original clients are still around. The small retailer tends to sell out so they can have a holiday every 5-6 years. The ones who take over often go bust in 1-2 years.

The medium & large size retailer either gets taken over, goes bust or reinvents itself. Very few remain the same for long. Since I was a kid big names such as Norman Ross, Nock & Kirbys, BBC Hardware, Farmers, Grace Brothers, Gowings etc have all disappeared from my local shopping centre.

Yes times are bad, but in the US they have been bad for some time and who knows when things will start to pick up. You will not know until after it has happened.