At the individual level, maybe it’s because they can actually afford to file bankruptcy now, finally, after eight long, miserable years getting a ray of hope that there’s some future beyond being slowly ground down into poverty, with the only way to survive being public assistance. This has been true of many former small business owners, at least. There’s some reason now to dust it all off and try to revive something that once generated a nice income.
Many national retail outfits and local shopping malls will likely continue to close stores, sell out , merge, or go broke.
JCPenney, Macy’s, K-Mart / Sears, H.H. Gregg, Gordmans , MC Sports, Gander Mountain, RadioShack, Payless shoes , Borders, Circuit City, Blockbuster ... just to start.