The stars aligned for a blowout holiday shopping season, and it delivered. Shoppers returned to brick-and-mortar retailers, sending sales higher by 4-6% above 2016.

The strong holiday season, however, came after a rough year for retailers. For the first time since the end of the recession, more stores closed than opened in 2017.

The flurry of store closings fueled a profoundly negative narrative that surrounds brick-and-mortar retail. While “bad news” makes headlines, the strong underlying data is becoming hard to ignore.

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