10 Companies That'll Be Dead by 2012

Even household names like Sara Lee unlikely to survive
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2011 12:14 PM CST
10 Companies That'll Be Dead by 2012
In this Feb. 4, 2009 file photo, Sara Lee croissants are on display at a market in Palo Alto, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

The economic crisis can be blamed for the death of quite a few large companies already—think Circuit City, Northwest Airlines, and Countrywide—so which ones can we expect to go bye-bye this year? Here are 10 American companies that seem unlikely to survive, from 24/7 Wall St. via Daily Finance:

  • Office Depot: It can’t compete with Office Max or Staples, and is trying to manage 1,150 costly locations on very thin margins. A takeover by a rival or another chain like Target appears likely.
  • Frontier Airlines: It was bankrupt when Republic Airways Holdings bought it in 2009, and is too small to compete with the larger airlines that are increasingly dominating the domestic carrier market.

  • Sara Lee: With corporations and private equity firms circling, it looks likely that pieces of this company, specifically its coffee and meat businesses, will be broken off and sold off in the near future.
  • Borders: Seems like only yesterday the bookseller was making a bid for Barnes & Noble, but the truth is the bookstore chain is facing bankruptcy. The big unknown: Will it be dissolved or snatched up by Barnes & Noble?
  • Dollar Thrifty: Fellow rental car company Avis Budget may buy Dollar Thrifty, if the FTC approves the deal.
Click for the complete list, which includes a company that once mocked Lindsay Lohan… (More Office Depot stories.)

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