Pretty soon Americans will notice one other sign of an economic rebound: hundreds of new Quiznos Sub shops, Dollar General outlets and Anytime Fitness gyms, along with more of the already-ubiquitous Starbucks, Subways and 7-Elevens.
Retailers have been scaling back their expansion plans since late 2008 with some companies scrapping their entire U.S. strategies but recent months have seen those decreases level off. You can thank, in part, a decent holiday shopping season that signaled American consumers will keep spending despite high unemployment.
A slight increase from the end of 2009 in planned store openings signals that national chains anticipate a recovery in employment followed by growing consumer spending, says RBC analyst Rich Moore. The roughly 2,200 firms he tracks are looking to open 65,257 stores in the next two years, up 1% from last December but well down from the nearly 72,000 planned openings retailers had back in late 2008 just as Lehman Brothers ( LEHMQ – news – people )’ collapse was spiraling into a U.S. recession.
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