Many businesses trying to grow the smart way recognize that capital planning involves an analysis of both short- and long-term needs and goals before they decide where their dollars are best spent. Regardless of how you plan your budget, your goal, of course, is to boost revenue. The question is: what capital expenditures are most likely to make that happen?

For several years, some of the most sophisticated, fastest-growing retailers and restaurant chains in the market have been using cutting-edge data analysis to discover actionable insights about their customers, brand, and competitors. Specifically, we’re talking about mobile behavioral data, which has the power to provide companies everywhere highly intelligent business insights.

We’ve talked before about the surprising downfall of big retail and restaurant chains and what causes one to fall from grace. Sometimes it’s a failure to keep up with the times that leads to customers losing interest (because a company simply doesn’t meet their needs any longer). Other times retail or restaurant chains suffer from an identity crisis, where they once knew who they were but now seem “brand confused” and are confusing their customer base too.

In the world of retail, it’s very common to see businesses that experience some success with one location make the (sometimes hasty) decision to add another (or several)—and for them to want to move quickly. Whether it’s a private company that has their sights set on growing and selling their business or a public company aiming to achieve growth goals, there are lots of reasons that companies want to grow.

All it takes is a quick Google search of “retailers closing” to discover news story after news story about retail chains large and small experiencing shrinking sales and closing locations. Yes, big chains like Macy’s, JCPenney, Sears/Kmart, Payless ShoeSource, and others have been shuttering stores. Some analysts and journalists have dubbed the last few years the “retailpocalypse” and are actively predicting the demise of brick-and-mortar retail. But is retail dying?  Let’s look at some of the reasons behind recent store closures to accurately answer that question.