Prior to 2017, the largest number of retail stores to close in any given year occurred during the financial crisis in 2008. That changed in 2017, the first year of the oft described “retail apocalypse”, and new records have been set in every subsequent year but for 2018, which fell just shy of 2008’s number. Indeed, so many stores closed in 2019 that many industry experts didn’t believe 2020 would be able to surpass that high-water mark. But, with the help of COVID-19, 2020 set another record with over 11,000 closures.

In this article we examine the current state of retail inventories and how a continued, pervasive environment of uncertainty is likely to impact the disposition of merchandise into the off-price market moving forward. We also take a look at how alternative strategies and creativity in monetizing these inventory assets can play an important role in providing the liquidity needed by many retailers and manufacturers during this unprecedented period.

Restore Capital's President joins the Hilco Global Smarter Perspectives Podcast Series to discuss strategies for debt placement and inventory procurement in a challenging retail environment.

Jay Stone and Buddy Beaman from Hilco Receivables Join Karen Bubrowski to discuss the current state of the consumer accounts receivable industry in the latest Hilco Global Smarter Perspectives Series podcast.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis of immense proportion that is unique in many ways, this is certainly not the first time that sudden, unanticipated circumstances have resulted in drastic and abrupt changes in economic or consumer behavior.

In this article, we examine the financial burden that consumer mandated transformation and the current crisis are imposing on both retailers and their suppliers, and how innovative financial solutions can be leveraged by both to help ensure successful outcomes in stressed and distressed environments.

In this article, we examine the significant momentum occurring in non-brick and mortar retail, including growth in both the online Resale and Rental categories as well as the growing popularity of BOPIS offerings, and how these developments can best be monitored and understood by ABLs that are active in the Retail space.