The Limited is gone, pulled entirely out of the Akron market. There's no more HomePlace, Stambaugh's Hardware, Ames or Montgomery Ward. Office Depot and DIY Home Warehouse have closed several locations. Other retailers are teetering on the verge of disaster, so I wouldn't be surprised if even more are gone by the time I come back to work in September. The sad part about this isn't so much from a consumer's point of view as it is from a citizen's.
Big retailers leave big empty spaces.
I've harped on this subject of retail space for nearly two years, as anyone who reads this column regularly knows. The good news for retailers is that this could eventually mean lower rents. National retailers who have been wanting to break into the Northeast Ohio market may just figure now is the time to do it. But I know of few retailers that are actually expanding now. Most have cut back their wild plans to add dozens of stores each year.