Your Input needed: Economy/Retail Sector

HERE HERE,

I need your help... see the end for your assignment.

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Retail:

The Retail Sector is shrinking:

We have a major problem. Our country has become a series of "Big Box" retail and strip malls, all lined up in a row.

Many locations that used to be farmland, were developed in the past 20 years, and are now parking lots.

The second largest operator of retail malls in the country filed for bankruptcy today.

Here's the problem. According to the article, "

As more stores have closed, mall vacancies are at their highest point in almost a decade, according to Reis, a research company, which said the vacancy rate at the end of 2008 was 7.1 percent, compared with 5.8 percent at the end of 2007.

Heres more of the problem:

I said HERE, ( amazingly exactly ONE year ago!!...) that the problem with the falling economy will cause mall vacancies to rise, and eventually would cause a ripple effect in the economy, which would then affect local food and franchise operations.

Well it sounds worse and worse.

Here's my request:

(but first to explain it)

I live in NJ. (US) Route 22 is for a good part of NJ, a 2-4 lane Retail shopping strip. Parts of it have no traffic lights, but even have a central retail strip, and U-turn lanes.

In driving down RT 22 this past week I noticed:

1) a store next to a cell phone store was now vacant.
2) 5 other stores that were there last month are now gone.

I tried this exercise going down another road (just a major street) a few miles away (route 27).

Same exercise, same results, in a 3 mile strip, I saw 4 stores that had gone out of business.

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Here's my request.

Please do the same thing. Look on the roads you drive to work. Are there any Obviously empty stores out there? (excluding new construction of course...)

Please report back here...
thanks again...