Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies

The NY Times has an article out today about companies across the country going out of business. I think it sounds a little too sympathetic to the business side - there is a lot of "retailing is so hard" and "we have to borrow to pay bills and salaries", etc. That just doesn't sound like a good business plan to begin with. If these businesses are so weak and rely so much on debt, then losing them is probably a better long term solution. My sympathies are with the people who work there more than the corporate/equity firm owners. There is just something about America that makes everyone think you have to have 500 stores in all 50 states, and leverage yourself up to the gills to pay for it all, blah, blah, blah. Maybe one thing this recession and global credit crisis will change for the better will be a shift to more small, family owned, sustainable businesses, a revival of some downtowns, and the realization that bigger and cheaper is not always better. It would be a nice silver lining to this mess.