The Nikkei certainly isn’t mincing words when it comes to describing the state of Japan’s department store industry. In an article entitled “More Devastation Awaits Dept Stores In ‘10,” the paper made its case for why the department store industry might see a record number of closures over the coming year.
The Nikkei points out that after five department stores had been shutting down each year, that number rose to nine in 2009 and ten are already scheduled to close this year. The current all-time high is 15 closures in 2000. That was the year in which department store giant Sogo collapsed.
According to Teikoku Databank, about 40% of Japan’s 83 department store operators were in the red in 2008. The Nikkei estimates that as many as 90% of those firms could have dipped into the red in 2009.
Although the Nikkei offers little speculation on the future direction of Japan’s department stores, it hints that more of them will simply be renting space to smaller shops in the coming years. Meanwhile, Cr