Related stories:
 Say goodbye to some of your shopping favorites
 World Market to close all Minn. stores
 Circuit City closing 155 stores

Shuttered stores can have an impact on the stores and cities around them and Metro consumers are just starting to see that ripple effect.

Business analysts say a big part of business is traffic—not only to just one company’s store but also to those nearby. When one closes, some of that critical traffic goes with it.

April Blomberg works at Cost Plus World Market, a chain the announced it would be closing all six of its Minnesota stores last month.

"Sort of out of the blue. I was very surprised," consumer Penny Barnes told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

It’s not the only dark store in Tamarack Village in Woodbury—nearby Circuit City and Seasonal Concepts will also be closing their doors.

Dave Brennan from the University of St. Thomas said stores lift each other in good times; the opposite is true in tough times.

And it's not just in Woodbury—both Circuit City and World Market share nearby locations in Bloomington and Roseville.

"Once you take out stores from a shopping center, maybe 25 percent of them, or 25 percent of the space—what begins to happen is that it begins to unravel," explained Brennan.

Brennan predicts the Twin Cities can expect to see more stores closing.

"We just have way too much retailing chasing too few dollars. It will be interesting to see if all the rest of them can hold out," he said.

Experts estimate 100,000 stores will close in 2009.