The Malls Get Decked: Retailers Minding Too Many Stores

Monday

Why Retailers Fear a Red Christmas

Tuesday

The Winter of Misfit Toys

The Good News at the Gap

Wednesday

Retailers Minding Too Many Stores

Holiday Shopping Bag: Maybe the Web Can Work After All

Play a little game this holiday season. See how many different Gaps (GPS Quote) you come across during the course of your shopping. Or count the number of office-supply or consumer-electronics stores you pass on your drive to work. You'll probably conclude that you don't lack for places to shop.

That's great for consumers. But the overstoring of America, as analysts like to call it, is a real problem for the retailing industry. Massive expansion isn't new, but when the economy slows, as it has recently, the store glut becomes an even more severe problem. Some companies already are scaling back, but a lot more will need to do the same to reverse the trend, meaning a punishing shakeout soon could descend on the retail chains.

Vicious Cycle

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