2020 has been a brutal year for businesses, so much so that the volume of bankruptcies this year has surpassed that of 2008. From the travel and hotel space to the energy sector, businesses across industries suffered for months as the COVID-19-induced lockdown put brakes on economic activities across the world. However, retailers selling non-essential goods have been the worst-affected with many of these names emerging among the biggest bankruptcies of 2020. As per S&P Global Market Intelligence, 610 firms have filed for bankruptcies as of December 13, the highest since 2012. Retailers like J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, and J.Crew, car rental giant Hertz, mall operator CBL & Associates Properties are some of the names that have been listed in Fortune’s list of ‘14 of the biggest bankruptcies of 2020'. The 14 bankruptcies happen to be from the US as the valuations of liabilities remain higher than those of others. Here’s a look at these companies and their liabilities, as mentioned by Fortune:

Retail sales fell a seasonal adjusted 1.1 percent in July from the month before, the US Commerce Department said Tuesday. It was a much larger drop than the 0.3 percent decline Wall Street analysts had expected.

Ben & Jerry's announcement to withdraw from Isreal 'Occupied Palestinian Territory' has come as a rebuke by a well-known brand against Israel’s policy of establishing its citizens on the war-won lands. However, there is a conflict of ideas with the parent company Unilever.

Panic buying of toilet paper was witnessed in the early days of 2020 amid unfounded fears of supply shortages. Consumers rushed to supermarkets, hotels, gas stations, and anywhere else they could find a roll of toilet paper to buy.