Jan. 3--These are sunny days for the merchants of doom.

Retailers across the nation may be going bankrupt, closing stores and watching unsold goods pile up, but that spells unprecedented buying -- and selling -- opportunities for the liquidators and salvagers who resell all that unwanted merchandise.

In Minnesota, entrepreneur Irwin Jacobs said "business is up 100 percent this year" at his Plymouth-based Jacobs Trading Co., which buys liquidated, overstocked or returned consumer products from vendors and resells them to businesses across the globe.

Hudson Capital, a Newton, Mass.-based outfit handling the liquidation of Linens 'N Things, Steve & Barry's, Tweeter and Mervyn's, has seen business increase tenfold in the past year. Liquidity Services Inc., which operates one of the nation's largest online wholesale surplus and salvage companies, experienced a 33 percent surge in revenue.

"I've never seen anything quite like it," said Jacobs, who also owns boat manufacturer Genmar Holdings Inc., among other businesses. "You've got the whole system backing up, which is creating enormous opportunities in the close-out business. And it's just beginning."

Analysts predict that as many as 73,000 retail stores will close in the first half of this year. For consumers, that not only means great sales through the end of January, which is the fiscal year-end for most retailers, it also could mean a boost in quality of merchandise at stores such as T.J. Maxx, Costco, Big Lots Stores or Tuesday Morning, businesses built around selling wares bought off the secondary market.

"It's a buyer's market now for liquidators. They're the ones controlling the pricing," said Brad Fritz, a retail partner at Deloitte's Minneapolis office. "This market has deteriorated much quicker than retailers anticipated back when they were placing their holiday orders."

The business of buying up overstocks, returns and out-of-business merchandise, estimated to be $80 billion to $100 billion a year, happens largely behind the scenes.

Liquidators buy assets from struggling or bankrupt merchants and often guarantee creditors payments up front. Sometimes liquidation companies even pay employees, the rent or the light bill.

Still-surviving retailers, unable to sell goods even after markdowns of 70 percent, are forcing some vendors to take the product back. Retailers also are canceling orders, leaving factories in Asia bursting with unwanted goods.

Meanwhile, the vendors and manufacturers are getting squeezed at the other end by banks and others wanting a guarantee on receivables.