Number of Distressed Retailers Tops Total During Financial Crisis

There are 22 U.S. retailers with troubled financials at potential risk of bankruptcy, according to Moody's Investors Service, beating the total number at the peak of the Great Recession: 19. Neiman Marcus Group, Sears Holdings, and others on the list are weathering the shift to online shopping, according to senior Moody's retail analyst Charles O'Shea. Even still, O'Shea said, the companies on the distressed list only represent 16 percent of all retailers analyzed by Moody's. “The majority of retailers remain fundamentally healthy,” he said.