Warning! The biggest wave of bankruptcies in 10 years is here! Multiple US retail giants have filed for bankruptcy! A large number of Chinese foreign trade suppliers have been affected

Biggest wave of bankruptcies in 10 years hits US retail giants, impacting Chinese foreign trade suppliers

As the economy weakens and trade stagnates, in recent years, the US has experienced the largest wave of bankruptcies in a decade, due to high interest rates and the prospect of an economic recession.…

On May 1st local time, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced that First Republic Bank of America would be sold to JPMorgan Chase Bank, the third bank to collapse in the US in the past two months and the second largest bank to collapse in US history. Not only banks are facing bankruptcy or collapse, but also many companies in the US retail industry have recently applied for bankruptcy protection, including the largest home goods retailer in the US, 3B Home.

According to a recent report by S&P Global Market Intelligence, there were 183 bankruptcy applications from US companies in the first quarter of 2023, “more than any comparable period in the past 12 years.” In March, 71 US companies applied for bankruptcy protection, up from 58 in February and more than twice the 33 in the same period last year. This is also the highest monthly level since 74 bankruptcies appeared in July 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The consumer goods industry has the highest number of bankrupt companies so far this year. In addition, the UBS analyst team recently issued a warning that over the next five years, more than 50,000 retail stores in the US may permanently close, reducing the current number of retail stores by about 5%.

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US home furnishing giant

Nielsen & Bainbridge, LLC files for bankruptcy

On February 8, 2023, the US home furnishing giant Nielsen & Bainbridge, LLC and its 13 affiliated companies (hereinafter referred to as the NBG Group) filed for bankruptcy reorganization in a Texas bankruptcy court.

The top 30 creditors listed in the NBG Group announcement involve a large number of Chinese enterprises, with a total debt amount of over 50 million US dollars, mainly unsecured creditors from supplier companies in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu Province, and other regions. The damage to Chinese foreign trade supplier companies is very severe.

Former largest American home goods retail giant Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy

On April 23, local time, Bed Bath & Beyond, the former largest American home goods retail giant, announced that the company and some of its subsidiaries had filed for voluntary relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to the Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey.

Court documents show that Bed Bath & Beyond has 25,000 to 50,000 creditors. Among the tens of thousands of creditors are a large number of foreign trade supplier companies from China.

Mobile e-commerce platform TopHatter announces bankruptcy

Last year, the once-popular mobile e-commerce platform TopHatter announced bankruptcy. TopHatter was called by domestic media as the most similar social e-commerce platform to Pinduoduo in the American context, and began to open up to Chinese suppliers in 2016, having cooperated with thousands of them. In June last year, Tophatter platform closed to Chinese sellers, with a notice issued on the same day, and the platform was closed that night.

Fresh grocery e-commerce platform Boxed files for bankruptcy

Boxed, a fresh grocery e-commerce platform listed on the New York Stock Exchange, said that the company has applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is seeking to sell its software business. Currently, Boxed’s homepage displays the news of the bankruptcy application.

Pharmapacks, the top seller on Amazon US, files for bankruptcy

Last year, Pharmapacks, once the “top seller on Amazon US”, filed for bankruptcy. In the past five years, of the 1,825 days, Pharmapacks was the top seller for 1,730 days. Pharmapacks also has a very close relationship with Walmart, with suppliers located all over the world.

The former CEO of the home retail giant Home Depot, Bob Nardelli, has issued a warning that the “very complicated” US economy is putting “enormous pressure” on medium-sized businesses.

Nardelli believes that in the near future, many businesses will go bankrupt as more and more companies have “inventory backlogs”. The complexity of the current US economy is unprecedented in nearly 52 years.

In addition to the acceleration of bankruptcies, a series of other unsettling signs have recently emerged in the US economy, such as mass layoffs and cooling bank loans.

Since this year, tech giants such as Meta, Google, and Microsoft have all released layoff plans, and the wave of layoffs has spread to the consumer industry. Amazon is still undergoing layoffs. Last month, Amazon launched a second round of massive layoffs, cutting an additional 9,000 employees on top of the previous round’s total of over 18,000. Recently, Walmart has announced the closure of multiple e-commerce distribution centers, and it is estimated that the number of people affected by Walmart’s nationwide layoffs this time will be approximately 3,000.

Recently, the collapse of multiple banks has led to further tightening of credit standards, which may worsen the situation. Investment research institution Gavekal believes that as companies are unable to obtain credit, businesses that are struggling to profit may be forced to go bankrupt, which will lead to mass layoffs and higher unemployment rates, thereby increasing the risk of economic recession….

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Source: Weiyun Network, Securities China, China Business Network, Zhejiang Foreign Trade, etc., please delete if infringing.

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