Horse feathers its no recession. Its way to many new stores in the area. How many Walmart's, Target or Fred Myers does Anchorage need. There is store space available at malls that has been vacant  for over a year.  Anchorage went on this big big box store building spree with no related increase in residents.  A few big box stores closed nationally and that included Anchorage operations for Sports Authority.  Then in Wasilla you can see a growth in big box stores that eliminates the need to shop in Anchorage for locals.  Add into the mix an increase in on-line sales and it easy to see why stores are laying off employees.