Nearly every large retailer - aside from supermarkets, pharmacies and a handful of other "essential" businesses - has closed stores, rendering shopping malls irrelevant. Tens of millions of Americans are now working remotely and unable to socialize at restaurants and movie theaters, leaving little need for seasonal clothing, new shoes or other discretionary goods. Retail sales plummeted 8.7 percent in March, their worst drop on record, and analysts say the decline is certain to accelerate as the coronavirus crisis intensifies. Hopes of a quick economic recovery have faded even as parts of the country begin to reopen, as many consumers will be loath, or unable, to return to their pre-pandemic ways.