What Role Will the Economy Play on Election Day?
Inflation casts a long shadow.
“Consumers reach their breaking point, forcing retailers to shutter stores at a worrying pace,” fretted Nathaniel Meyersohn for CNN last Saturday. “Family Dollar has announced 677 store closings this year. Walgreens is closing 259. Big Lots is closing 360. LL Flooring is shutting down entirely.”
“Major retailers have announced 6,189 store closures so far this year, already outpacing last year’s total of 5,553, according to Coresight Research,” Meyersohn reported. “Chains are on track to close the highest number of stores in 2024 than any year since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the industry.”
“More than 80 companies that sell discretionary goods have filed for bankruptcy through September, up 27% from a year ago, as the sector continues to be hit hard by increasingly budget-conscious consumers, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence,” he added. “Tupperware, Big Lots and Joann Fabric have been among the largest consumer bankruptcies.”
“A similar shift is playing out in the restaurant industry, where consumers looking to save money have pulled back on dining out,” concluded Meyersohn bleakly.
Meanwhile, the subject of utmost concern — for the chattering media class anyway — is Vice President Kamala Harris’s…