The International Council of Shopping Centers said 6,913 retail stores — of all types — announced closures last year, compared with 4,603 in 2007.

Excess Space Retail of Lake Success, N.Y, specializes in real estate disposition and lease restructuring for retailers, including Home Depot, Wal-Mart, JC Penny and Kmart. The company has seen a more than 30 percent jump in the number of empty retail locations in the past year, he said.

"We are handing in excess of 2,000 locations for some 50-odd retailers, said Michael Burden, a principal with Excess Space Retail. "The square footage is in the tens of millions."

Home Depot, for example, closed 15 underperforming stores last year, and 41 its smaller home improvement brands, including Expo Design Centers and YardBIRDS.

"The goal is to sell or lease the property as quickly as possible," said Ron DeFeo, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based Home Depot. "The last thing we want is to see an empty store in a community — it’s a difficult enough decision to close a store in the community."

The Associated Press: As retailers cut back cities confront ‘ghostboxes’

 

This is about big box stores,, they do NOT mention the hundreds of MALLS also going bankrupt!