CEO of biggest US mall owner says retail industry is ‘reaching the bottom’ of bankruptcies

CEO of Simon Property Group says they are nearing the bottom of a wave of bankruptcies. They were in a similar situation in 2017 so they feel confident they know what they need to do to get back on track. Shares were down 3.5% as of Wednesday falling about 12% this year. So far in 2019 U.S. retailers have announced 8,993 store closings and only 3,780 store openings and are estimating a record of about 12,000 closings by the end of the year. The CEO also announced recent investment in online shopping site Rue La La which will help Simon run a website for its outlet centers. Simon also reported that sales per square foot were up 4.5% from a year ago and total occupancy 94.7% was down from 95.5% a year ago.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/simon-property-ceo-says-reaching-the-bottom-of-retail-bankruptcies.html