Jan
24
2025
DDS-Employee Screening Services specializes in protecting businesses throughout the U.S. with respect to their pre- and post- employment due diligence practices. Because of that, we track the U.S. Business economy trends and outlook to determine where the industry growth sectors will be and where our expertise will be needed most.
If we dedicated this issue to business sectors, you would see a very similar steady downward trend in almost every major sector (led by manufacturing) between January 2021 and December 2024. Instead, we’ve chosen to show the economic effect and trends on the average American Consumer and how it affected the retail market for that period.
The manipulated positive economic numbers that were spread through the media between January 2021 until December 2024 sounded good, but the average American knew the reality of how bad inflation and economic uncertainty became and still is, considering forced lifestyle changes. The Covid lockdowns, looting, mandates, and out-of-control inflation caused an economic death blow to the U.S. Consumer.
Most Consumer retail spending is based on disposable income, and the decrease in buying power of disposable income was obvious as retail revenue decreased, and from that, more retail employee layoffs and ultimately store closures throughout the United States, as the examples below show.
We believe that if there was to be a comeback, it would have started at the beginning of 2024, considering the Covid Plandemic rhetoric had come and gone. Instead, data from Coresight Research shows that over 7,100 retail stores in the U.S. closed between January 2024 and the end of November 2024. This was a 69 percent increase compared to the same period from the year before. These are the stores we all know, with many being iconic and around for as long as we can remember! Good thing they didn’t include December, or you would have seen an increase of another several hundred closures! Why is that? Because essential items were a priority over non-essential items. Here are some of those retailers that were affected:
Family Dollar, CVS Health, Big Lots, Conn's, Rue21, 7-Eleven, Rite Aid, 99 Cents Only Stores, American Freight, Walgreens, DK, LL Flooring, Footlocker, Express, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Dollar General, Macy's, The Body Shop, Save A Lot, Bath & Body Works, Dollar Tree, Soft Surroundings, Sam Ash Music, Sleep Number, Burlington Stores, Stop & Shop, Office Depot, Ted Baker, Carter's.
According to Newsweek, several of the listed retailers plan to continue with closures in the coming years, with Walgreens confirming it will shut down 1,200 stores over the next three years, and 7-Eleven will close more than 400 stores worldwide, just to name two.
That’s the bad news. Now for the really good news!
We analyzed a few important variables including the new Administration’s plan for an economic boom (not recovery)! Why do we believe this plan? Because it has already been done once by the same leader!! We believe that within the next 3 to 6 months, we will come out of the dark economic hole that was dug for us and see the very bright light at the end of the tunnel, which won’t be a train coming at us! We also believe that the overall upward trend of American industries will continue to grow and prosper well beyond the next 4 years, as will the American workers who are the foundation and backbone of each one of those companies!
Does this mean that the brick-and-mortar stores will come back as they were? Probably not. We think the majority of comeback companies will evolve and reinvent themselves, or be replaced by others that are willing to do so.
I wish we could sneak a peek at the next 24 months, but we feel extremely confident that the U.S. industry growth will exceed expectations, and we will all be a part of it in one way or the other.
We wish you all a blessed 2025 and beyond!!
For more information on DDS, please click on the link below.
www.employeescreening.com