The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that liquidators are keeping busy, as businesses look for ways to get rid of their goods. The Globe's Susan Krashinsky Robertson writes that a pullback in consumer spending has left some retailers with slow-selling merchandise they cannot afford to hold on to. Insolvencies in Canada have ballooned in recent months. While not all retailers have been forced to liquidate, the shift in consumer behaviour is having an impact across the industry. For example, Canadian Tire reported a sharp drop in sales and profit in its most recent quarter and saw traffic to its stores decline noticeably. Even Lululemon athletica -- which had been relatively buoyant last year -- reported this month that it has seen a slowdown in its U.S. business. This kind of pullback can pose a problem because it does not always make sense for retailers to hold on to goods that are not selling. Some may deal in fashions that will be out of date by the following season. And, when retailers respond to slumping sales by cancelling orders, manufacturers face similar challenges. Business insolvencies in Canada rose by 41.4 per cent last year and then shot up by 129.3 per cent on an annual basis in January.