Reply #3: We've already seen a lot of retailers go under [View All]

Comp USA and Sharper Image among the chains with a lot of strip mall stores in the trophy house parts of town disappearing.

Expect the process to accelerate next spring. People have reached a critical debt limit combined with inflation and are now spending only on subsistence. Food, transportation to work and housing are the critical needs. Everything else gets put off, shoved aside, ignored.

Expect business to increase at dollar stores as people scramble for something to wrap that they won't have to go into hock for. I've already seen that in my own neighborhood last year.

The year after that, it'll be thrift shops as anything new is out of reach for people with debt to service.