Nearly A Third Of Small Retailers Still Can’t Pay Their Rent

With some factors finally tilting in their favor after a brutal pandemic year, more retailers are showing some signs of recovery in recent months, with 31% of small retailers still unable to pay their rent this month, according to an April rent report from Alignable, an online referral network for small businesses. That’s down from 50% in March, the highest for smaller retailers this year, according to the report. The picture is decidedly even worse for minority-owned businesses, as it has been: 53% couldn’t pay their full rent in April, though it’s an improvement from 67% in March. The stress has meant closing up shop: Worldwide, more than 97% of the 2.4 million merchants that shuttered for good last year were retailers, restaurants and hospitality businesses with fewer than five locations, according to research from IHL Group. Read more at Retail Dive.