What All Of 2019’s Bad Retail News Means For 2020

I think most of us are done with the term “retail apocalypse” — right? — but there’s no denying that 2019 brought about something of a reckoning for many fashion and retail businesses. As you’ve probably noticed if you read this website, there was simply a lot of bad retail news this year: There have been more store closures — over 9,000 so far — than any full year prior. In apparel specifically, Forever 21, Payless, Charlotte Russe, Diesel USA and Barneys all filed for bankruptcy, with the latter now tragically in liquidation; Zac Posen suddenly shuttered his brand; and Old Navy and Madewell are being spun off from their parent companies’ struggling anchor brands (Gap and J.Crew, respectively). Yes, all of these retailers, and many others, struggled in years prior, but 2019 felt like the year their problems came to a head, in which they weren’t able to just refinance or discount their way through another quarter. Read more at Fashionista.