Despite a late surge in holiday sales, companies like J. Crew Group Inc. and 99 Cents Only Stores are struggling under debt they took on in leveraged buyouts years ago, according to Bloomberg News yesterday. Eleven retailers defaulted last year through Dec. 14, the highest annual tally since 2009, according to Standard & Poor’s data. And the near future doesn’t look much brighter. “We expect more retail defaults in 2016 than 2015 and 2014,” said Robert Schulz, an S&P credit analyst. This wave of distress is different from the tough times of the Great Recession, said Patrick Dalton, chief executive officer of Gordon Brothers Finance Co., an asset-based lender that works with retailers. Now, “it’s an industry issue, not an economy issue,” he said.
