Will Small Businesses Face The Brunt Of Retail Closures?

Investment banking firm UBS predicts that one in five retail stores will close over the next five years, with significant losses in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What does this mean for small businesses that might feel the most impact, and what does that mean for the folks on main street?

Voice of B2B, Daniel Litwin talked with Nick Mathews, CEO of Mainvest, a company focused on aligning incentives between local community members and small businesses to encourage Main Street economic development, on MarketScale TV about which sectors are going to feel the most impact.

The information coming out of UBS is no joke, as it’s predicted that in a worst-case scenario, 150,000 stores will be lost over the next five years. The best-case scenario is to lose only 81,000. Small businesses are expected to be hit hardest, with small companies not having the financial resources available to weather the storm. The industries that are going to be hit the most are clothing, electronic, and furniture stores.

 

“One of the interesting things people aren’t talking about is new business creation,”

Nick Mathews, CEO of Mainvest

 

“One of the interesting things people aren’t talking about is new business creation,” Mathews said. He noted that in the third quarter of 2020, there was 1.7 times the amount of businesses created, and the cycle of new companies coming in has to be weighed with the businesses going out.

“The new businesses coming are going to be adapting to this new climate and improving the retail space,” Mathews said.

 

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

team
Why Treating Everyone the Same Is Hurting Your Team
January 28, 2026

For years, management best practices emphasized uniformity: standard processes, standardized expectations, and treating everyone the same in the name of fairness. But today’s workforce looks very different than it did in the late 1990s and early 2000s. With multi-generational teams, shifting attitudes toward work-life balance, and an increased focus on emotional intelligence, leaders are…

Read More
Corporate heartbeat
Corporate Heartbeat: The Win-Win of Giving Back
January 28, 2026

Corporate giving is increasingly viewed as part of local economic infrastructure—not discretionary generosity. In the U.S., 13.7% of households experienced food insecurity in 2024, impacting millions of working families and signaling stress within regional labor markets. As cost-of-living pressures persist and metro regions like North Texas continue to grow rapidly, business leaders are reassessing…

Read More
client
Crafted Journey How To: Setting Scope, Saving Sanity, and Protecting Long-Term Client Value
January 27, 2026

The independent workforce continues to grow, with professionals increasingly choosing solo and fractional paths over traditional employment. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that independent contractors now represent 11.9 million workers, or about 7.4% of total U.S. employment. Without the structural guardrails of traditional roles, independent professionals must define scope, success, and boundaries…

Read More
Culture of Safety
Beyond Drills: Building a Culture of Safety in Schools
January 27, 2026

School Safety Today podcast, presented by Raptor Technologies. In this episode of Principals of Change, host Dr. Amy Grosso sits down with Jeff Bryant, Principal of Jefferson Middle School, and David Sally, Associate Principal of West Aurora High School, to explore how effective school safety goes far beyond drills and locked doors. Drawing on…

Read More