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The small business network Alignable reports that 54% of the
small businesses in Illinois experienced rent problems last
month. That is compared to the national average of 40%. Other
states near the top include Virginia at 50%, and Texas at 49%.
Researcher Chuck Casto said some businesses are still dealing
with pandemic losses.
“They’re still paying off some of their debts from the COVID
era, so the problem is with an economy that really is not
supporting them well, it gets tougher and tougher every month,”
Casto said.
Casto notes that technology layoffs at larger companies over the
past year may be affecting the small companies who are often
dependent on the larger ones as clients.
The survey shows the top industries experiencing rent troubles
include science and technology, gyms and manufacturing.
The survey showed that 50% of small businesses said they are
being charged more for rent than they were six months ago, with
15% saying rent has increased by 20% or more.
Casto said although the first month of the fourth quarter got
off to a rough start, maybe things will improve in November.
“We are really hoping that this report is better next month
because we’ll be firmly into the holiday shopping season,” Casto
said.
Alignable's findings are based on responses from 4,246 randomly
selected small business owners surveyed from between Oct. 1 to
Oct. 30, 2023, as well as input from more than 44,000 other
respondents over the past year.
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