Retailers find themselves caught in the middle. New York's mass-market retailers are paying the price for the country's stagnant middle-class wages.

Crain's New York reports:

Selling to the middle-class shopper has rarely been so tough.

Last week, Macy's lowered its 2015 earnings forecast, amid sales-growth slowdowns resulting from shopper malaise. The department store giant's troubles follow the January shuttering of Kate Spade Saturday, C. Wonder and Gap Inc.'s Piperlime—three businesses aimed at young, fashion-conscious professionals who can't yet afford true luxury—and a spate of middle-market retail closures in 2014. And the hatchet is expected to continue falling.

"Being average in the middle is death," said Kevin Mullaney, president of retail consultancy the Grayson Co. "The high end and the low end—those two businesses are thriving. If you're in the middle, you'd better have a darn good reason for being there based on product and freshness."

A look at the middle income people.