Retail Apocalypse? Major Chains Closing Hundreds Of Stores

The country is facing what CNBC has labeled a tsunami of store closings and blogger Michael Snyder has called a retail apocalypse.
Sears, K-Mart, Best Buy and JC Penney are among the big names in American retail that could disappear in the coming years, according to investment analysts. If or when these chains collapse, thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue will disappear.
Is the Middle Class Disappearing?
Another popular theory is the number of middle class people who make up the majority of these stores’ customers is falling. The New York Times recently found that businesses that sell to the rich are thriving while those that cater to the middle class such as Sears are floundering.
“As a retailer or restaurant chain, if you’re not at the really high level or the low level, that’s a tough place to be,” PricewaterhouseCoopers Analyst John G. Maxwell told The Times. “You don’t want to be stuck in the middle.”      ***Read article at NEWSWATCH***