Another year, another watch list. 24/7 Wall Street has a prediction what well-known brands will go out of existence next year, and there are three companies listed that could be problematic to landlords.
The report says that Sears, American Apparel and A&W Restaurants will all be gone in 2012. Not good it it's true.
Sears is obviously the biggest problem. The article speculates that all of the Sears stores could be converted into Kmarts, but aren't there enough discount stores out there that could easily put that chain out of commission?
American Apparel isn't an ideal situation either. There are nearly 260 stores in the chain, most of them in the US. The company has had financial problems for a while now, and supposedly, CEO Dov Charney didn't bother to show up for its latest shareholder meeting.
A&W isn't a substantial rent payer in high-profile locations, but it still has 360 units worldwide. There are surely some small landlords that can be hit by this.
How do you think these chains will end up? Do you see more big brands shutting down on the horizon?
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