U.S. store closures jumped in fourth quarter

During the fourth quarter U.S. retailers announced plans to close a total of 900 stores, up 28.3 percent from the 2010 quarter, according to ICSC Research and PNC Real Estate Research. These planned closures comprise 21 million square feet, or 0.13 percent of the total U.S. inventory of retail space. Department stores, including discounters, reported the most planned closures, totaling some 13.4 million square feet. Sears Holdings alone accounted for 9.5 million square feet and 45 percent of the total square footage to be shut by all retailers in the quarter. Boston was home to the highest number of announced closures, with 975,000 square feet of space set aside. Filene’s Basement, Friendly’s and Lowe’s are among those contributing to the Boston glut. U.S. retailers marked 65 million square feet and 4,000 stores for closure in 2011, up 40 percent from 2010 in overall space, but down 27 percent in the number of stores.  read the rest (Source: Shoppping Centers Today)