Retail Hit List

In what I would admit to overstating the obvious, I am providing my updated retail hit list of categories of retail business to be concerned about rent payments, evictions abandonment and overall survival over the next twelve months.  This list is not intended to be all inclusive but just the ones high on my list that I either seem to be dealing with a lot or expect to be:

1. Anything furniture related, both residential and commercial.  Anything surviving the next twelve months are likely to be in a good position after the shakeout. However, if experience serves me correctly, during the downturn of the early 90's, I was constantly evicting furniture tenants or representing landlords whose furniture tenants filed bankruptcy, constantly held going out of business sales and whose inventory mysteriously disappeared.
2. High End Restaurants
3. Electronics retailers.  Best Buy looks pretty good right now as long as it is not over leveraged and it can continue to provide a good shopper experience versus the internet and the big box stores such as the Walmarts and Costco's.
4. Tutoring and pre-schools
5. Specialty exercise like Curves;
6. Anything automobile except automated car washes and gas stations.  I am not sure about parts stores although my sense is that they should be doing alright.
7. Anything over leveraged.  Be wary of any tenant that needs to or within the last two years has spent a great deal of money on tenant improvements.
8. Jewelry and precious stones
9. Yogurt, at least in Orange County, California.  Actually, there is nothing wrong with this model, generally, it just seems way overbuilt and far to competitive in South Orange County.