Recession hits big boxes, too

Interesting article that originally appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It deals with what some have called the "second wave" of the foreclosure/recession crisis that the U.S. is currently experiencing - the retail crash. The article deals with the fact that the U.S. has been building retail space at a rate that far exceeds consumer spending. The rest, even prior to the recession, was a massive amount of empty retail space, often concentrated in central cities. Rather than attempt to rehabilitate these cities, big-box retailers and developers often found it cheaper and easier to build new, shinier strip malls and big box stores. The model had always been profitable.

Well, that is definitely about to change. This country was "overstorred" with retail space in 2003 - and now, with consumer spending hitting declining for the 6th month in a row, development slowing and available credit shrinking, big-box stores and strip malls are about to get hit. Hard. Check out the article to learn more.