Lender sees bankruptcy down

It was bankruptcy over breakfast this morning at the Turnaround Management Association discussion on retail business. 

A lot of businesses declared bankruptcy in 2008 and 2009, but few filed last year, said Jim Dore, head of Wells Fargo's retail lending division. "All those people that teetered went away and the rest of the people were better managing inventory."

But he said it's been a "tale of two"  lately.

The affluent customers are back, but the mid and lower income consumers are struggling. That means teen retailers, some furniture businesses and others will continue to struggle also, he said.

But the good news for retail is that lending is back. It was a tale of two lending outlooks last year, Dore said. The fist half, lenders were afraid the retail sector was a risk, Dore said. But in the last half, they started realizing that retailers were surviving and began underwriting loans.

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