Major U.S. Retailers Are Closing More Than 6,000 Stores: "Middle Class U.S. Consumers Are Tapped Out"

Major U.S. Retailers Are Closing More Than 6,000 Stores: "Middle Class U.S. Consumers Are Tapped Out":
"If the U.S. economy really is improving, then why are big U.S. retailers permanently shutting down thousands of stores?  
The “retail apocalypse” that I have written about so frequently appears to be accelerating.  
As you will see below, major U.S. retailers have announced that they are closing more than 6,000 locations, but economic conditions in this country are still fairly stable.  
So if this is happening already, what are things going to look like once the next recession strikes?
...If retailers are closing this many stores already, what are our malls and shopping centers going to look like a few years from now?

The list below comes from information compiled by About.com,...
As you can see, the number of stores that are being permanently shut down is absolutely staggering…

180 Abercrombie & Fitch (by 2015)

75 Aeropostale (through January 2015)

150 American Eagle Outfitters (through 2017)

223 Barnes & Noble (through 2023)

265 Body Central / Body Shop

200 Walgreens (by 2017)

10 West Marine

338 Wet Seal

80 Wolverine World Wide (2015 – Stride Rite & Keds)..... (read on-long list)

So why is this happening?....

The truth is that middle class U.S. consumers are tapped out.  
Most families are just scraping by financially from month to month.  
For most Americans, there simply is not a whole lot of extra money left over to go shopping with these days.

In fact, at this point approximately one out of every four Americans spend at least half of their incomes just on rent…

More than one in four Americans are spending at least half of their family income on rent – leaving little money left to purchase groceries, buy clothing or put gas in the car, new figures have revealed.

A staggering 11.25 million households consume 50 percent or more of their income on housing and utilities, according to an analysis of Census data by nonprofit firm, Enterprise Community Partners...