There's a booming shadow industry emerging from the retail apocalypse

pulse

April 28, 2017 4:32 PM

Here's what happens to all the unsold merchandise when stores close for good.

Thousands of stores across the US are shutting down and holding liquidation sales to try and purge their merchandise before they close.

But what if the stores aren't completely emptied by the time they turn out the lights for good? What happens to all that leftover merchandise?

Often it ends up going to wholesale distributors, which buy the excess merchandise, then turn around and sell it to other firms — like third-party Amazon sellers or discounters like TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

Business is booming for one such company, called United National Consumer Suppliers, or UNCS, according to the company's CEO, Brett Rose.

When retailers don't order enough, UNCS helps find another supplier who can immediately fulfill a new order. When they order too much, UNCS helps them get rid of it by finding another buyer.

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