Retail malaise puts pressure on US chains to shutter more stores

New York

REELING from a shaky holiday season and slowing mall traffic, US retailers are facing increasing pressure to close stores as more of their business migrates to the Internet.

More than 10 per cent of US retail space, or nearly one billion square feet, may need to be closed, converted to other uses or renegotiated for lower rent in coming years, according to data provided to Bloomberg by CoStar Group. That's on top of about 5,000 stores that have been shuttered in the past 18 months, an estimated 50 million square feet of space, according to Clarion Partners.