Mass. retail group sees surge in members going out of business

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/03/24/retail-group-sees-surge-members-going-out-business/nufH9jmtbEFwYQZPzcq34K/story.html

Mass. retail group sees surge in members going out of business
By Jon Chesto Globe Staff March 24, 2016

Sales tax collections trended upward, and employers added thousands of new jobs each month, making the state economy look fairly strong in 2015.

But the Retailers Association of Massachusetts said it saw a 34-percent surge in members who dropped out of the organization because they went out of business.

The statistic was particularly noteworthy because the number of closure-related dropouts held steady from 2011 through 2014, in the 130 range annually, before rising to 174 last year, said Jon Hurst, the association’s president.

“We were taken aback by it,” said Hurst, whose statewide group has roughly 3,500 members, most of them mom-and-pop shops and other small businesses, including restaurants. “It’s a little scary. I’m kind of concerned that there’s a real profitability issue. Too many of them are going out of business, and new entrepreneurs aren’t coming in to replace them.”

[GreatGazoo]

1. there is a squeeze on restaurants nationwide

mostly mid-priced restaurants are falling out. The middle class is increasingly squeezed by healthcare, retirement, housing and debt service costs. Wealth is being extracted from the customers of mid priced restaurants so they don't go out to eat as often or at all.

Fast casual is doing well relative to other segments but it is dominated by chains, not mom-pop operators. Also many supermarkets are now marketing food to go so. Whole Foods gets credit for this trend -- people buy groceries on the way home from work and they can also pick up ready to eat foods at the same time or dine in at mini food courts.

[Boldine]

2. Are these the same people who are against

a decent living wage?

Because giving people enough to live on can reap profits for businesses in the long term.

[Ford_Prefect]

3. Somehow I doubt Whole Foods alone is a primary cause. Their prices are just as inflated as always .

I think people as a whole are discovering the new millennium dollar won't stretch as far as once it might have.
I see many small and medium sized stores and restaurants open and close here. A few niche outfits stay and most close within 6 months. That in itself is not news here. The class of shopper most owners seem to be appealing to has not materialized in the numbers needed to stay afloat. However, even Walmart is struggling though they have not closed yet.