U.S. Retail Remains Strong, and Small Businesses Benefit

Date: April 11, 2017

The retail apocalypse may be upon us.

With mass closures across the country, whether in strip malls or traditional malls, giant retailers from Kmart to Sears to J.C. Penney appear to be shuttering at a steady clip. Other large mall retailers, such as The Limited, American Apparel, and Abercrombie & Fitch, are following suit. 

But retail remains one of the largest markets in the U.S., according to a new report from Creditsafe USA. And small businesses are filling niche roles.

The Creditsafe Guide: Demystifying the U.S. Retail Industry suggests that, apart from a few high-profile closures, retail is still performing strongly. This has key relevance for many NFIB members–several thousand are in the retail sector.

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The report also examined the health of U.S. retail companies during the first quarter of 2017. The study found that retail is still the second largest industry in the United States and employs about 10 percent of the entire workforce.

The study found that, while many department stores are struggling and Amazon continues to go gangbusters, many small business retailers are thriving and experiencing rapid growth.

“Our study reveals that while a number of the big retail players have experienced financial hardships, there is a huge portion of the retail sector that are performing very well,” said U.S. and Asia Creditsafe CEO Matthew Debbage. “In today’s retail landscape, the e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Walmart are giving the traditional department stores a run for their money. Interestingly, however, it is the small companies with either less than 100 employees or sales less than $10M that are experiencing rapid growth. They are truly thriving.”

Many of the small businesses seeing success are boutique businesses that cater to specialized audiences. These stores are providing high-touch customer service that their larger competitors are unable to match.

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