RETAILERS

of those locations are about five miles from former Toys R Us stores.

“We regularly look at retailers on the Moody’s credit watch list,” Cornell told reporters last month. “We think about strategies market by market.”

In 2018, there have been roughly 30 retailers that have filed for bankruptcy, including household names like Sears Holdings Corp., Mattress Firm, and David’s Bridal. That compares with 41 last year, the highest since 2011, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, a research firm. Both Toys R Us and Bon-ton liquidated this past summer just months after trying to reorganize in bankruptcy court.

In 2008, 440 retailers filed for bankruptcy, the highest number since S&P started tracking the data.

The closures don’t tell the entire story. According to research firm IHL Group, 2018 will see a net growth of more than 3,800 stores, with 12,664 stores opening this year and 8,828 shuttering. And the closings represent a concentration of retailers. This year, 16 retailers represent 66 percent of the closings, compared with 48 percent last year.

The National Retail Federation expects holiday retail sales to increase as much as 4.8 percent over 2017. The sales growth marks a slowdown from last year’s 5.3 percent but remains healthy.

Even as retailers scramble to fill the hole left by closures, in many cases that won’t be enough. Take Toys R Us, which had a constant supply of hot products throughout the year, not just for the holidays.

“No one is going to be able to fill the Toys R Us void,” said Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment, the maker of the popular LOL toys. His overall global business has tripled, but at Little Tikes, known for its large-size toys like cook kitchen sets and toy cars, business is down 11 percent, leaving its factory in Hudson, Ohio, often idle.

“I’m looking at everything possible to find other ways to fill that factory,” he added.