Restaurant chains also shrank last year. Institutions like Red Lobster and TGI Fridays filed for bankruptcy and Denny’s and Applebee’s announced major closings.


As someone who has eaten out way too often in his life I always wondered how a lot of the marginal quality chains stayed in business. My limited experiences with places like TGI Friday's, Applebee's, Chili's, etc. are that they aren't cheap but the quality is marginal at best. On the lower end I'd rather go to better fast food places such as Chick Fil A, Culvers, In-n-Out, etc. And chain wise places like Outback and Cheesecake Factory provide better quality food and service, at least in locations I've been to.

I've never been much of a shopper. As a single guy I was a 15 item or less person who avoided crowds as much as possible but I always had a fond spot for Big Lots. The couple of locations I've been to in Scottsdale, Glendale, AZ and in Maryland all were decent with reasonable service (again I avoided rush times). I'll miss that. Now that I'm retired and tend to get up early, I've gotten over my dislike of Walmart and we go there at times to pick up a few items while most people are sleeping or at work (7-8am).

I'd be more curious in terms of seeing store closings as a percent of total stores around.