You should know that it is fairly common for companies to shut down. Yes, the biggest players in the market are not immune to this either. There are times when people are just not that interested in the products anymore. It is also common for their business to become obsolete with the rise of Internet services! At any rate, the stores on this list all decided to close shop and file for bankruptcy. Find out which stores closed their doors recently.
Time To Bid Adieu To These Stores That Failed To Make The Cut
J. Crew
Michelle Obama is a fan of this clothing company. However, this has not prevented it from closing stores thanks to the plummeting sales of the past couple of years. On top of that, the company also had to shut down its bridal store and bid adieu to creative director Jenna Lyons and CEO Mickey Drexler. According to Drexler, the company was unable to handle the problems that arose after it raised prices.
J. Crew
Sears Holdings
Sears Holdings has been dealing with a lot of problems for about a decade now. Their sales have kept going down regardless. The company must have tried just about everything, from cutting costs to laying off employees, to keep afloat but RetailDive claimed that the steps did not do much for the big department store. In October 2018, it decided to apply for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and ceased the operation of 142 stores. Eddie Lampert, the CEO of the company, tried to avoid bankruptcy by using his hedge fund to acquire hundreds of millions in loans. Unfortunately, things are still looking so bad for this retailer that money from a hedge fund had not been enough to keep it in the game.
Sears Holdings
99 Cents Only
99 Cents Only is a retail company that offers discounted products. It is in a difficult situation due to the presence of competitor companies including Walmart, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree. In December 2017, the company reported a $27.1 million net loss. On top of that, it incurred $33.6 million in losses during the second quarter and then $8.8 million more in the first quarter. The 35-year-old retailer tried to keep itself afloat. Ares Management bought it out before selling it to Canada Pension Plan. It is now owned by a private family. Jack Sinclair also ended up replacing Geoffrey Covert as the CEO of the company. Even though it has reported positive same-store sales, it still stands that it is losing money.
99 Cents Only
GNC
In 2017, RetailDrive reported that GNC saw a gross revenue drop of 3.4 percent in its year to year to around $2.5 billion. On top of this, it boasted $1.3 billion debt. The GNC chief executive pointed out that the company was faring better in China, as well as with e-commerce during the second quarter of 2018. However, the company admitted that its top-line sales dropped in terms of profits and sales during that same period. The company planned to sell 40% of its shares to a pharma company in China. This Chinese company is going to take over production, promotion, sales, and distribution in the Asian country.
GNC
Fred’s Pharmacy
In May 2018, this pharma company reported that the gross sales for the past fiscal year went down by 4.3%, while the bottom-line sales loss went up to $139.3 million. Fred’s Pharmacy tried to increase the number of stores from 600 to 1,000 across the U.S. However, the plan did not happen. According to RetailDive, the extra spaces for these stores were available. Walgreens attempted to negotiate with Rite Aid but they failed to reach an agreement. In February 2018, the CFO of Fred’s left and got replaced by a media executive. After that, it was time for Fred to set “Plan B” into motion. This meant going up for sale! The company sold the specialty pharmacy CVS for $40 million.
Fred’s Pharmacy
Destination Maternity
RetailDrive called Destination Maternity a giant in the world of maternity apparel since it boasts a thousand stores. The CEO of this retailer left the company when gross sales dipped by over 7 percent in a single quarter. The company was on the second interim CEO when it asked help from Berkeley Research Group. They arrived at the conclusion that the broken relationship Destination Maternity had with Kohl’s caused many of the problems it was facing. During the 2017 fiscal year, the total year over year sales went down by 6.4 percent to $406.2 million. There has been a silver lining, however. The company must have been glad to see that its eCommerce comps went up by 40 percent!
Destination Maternity
Ascena Retail
Ascena Retail is behind retailers such as Lou & Grey, LOFT, Dress Barn, and Ann Taylor. RetailDive said that things did not improve even though they got a new chief to take over Dress Barn. In an effort to rescue the brand, it is closing a quarter of its stores in 2019. RetailDive also said that Ascena was expecting to see $1.7 billion in sales during the 2017 fiscal year. In March, the retailer said that the top-line sales went down year over year. By May, things appeared to be improving as the financial services company Moody’s said that Ascena“is on a path to developing a strong ‘backbone’ of retail capabilities.”
Ascena Retail
Stein Mart
Stein Mart is a discount department store based in Jacksonville. It has been dealing with sales issues, but there is light in the tunnel for it. The company was able to put balance back in the sales and improve the digital revenue by 47 percent during the second half of 2017. While the company reported a bottom-line loss of $23.4 million for the year, it said that the loss eventually went down by 10 percent. There is no need to worry about your favorite discount store because it is here to stay. The store announced that they asked advisors for help with their problems. RetailDive said that Stein Mart managed to get a $50 million loan that they could still increase. What a relief it is to hear that they are now out of trouble!
Stein Mart
JC Penney
JC Penney is not doing all that well, but it is still performing better than Sears. In 2018, the store needed to lay off a thousand employees and shut down a distribution center. The top-line sales went down by 0.3% on a net income of $116 million in 2017. RetailDive said that it is struggling to revert things to the way they used to be. A big factor would be its staggering debt of $4.2 billion. According to Retail Dive, the investors are starting to feel more impatient with the lack of progress. Anther measure the company took was to change the executive lineup. In May 2018, the chairman of the board Marvin Ellison left the position to lead Lowe’s instead. We cannot help but wonder what the future has in store for JC Penney.
JC Penney
Office Depot
Office Depot is a famous office supply retailer that saw tough times in 2017. In that year, the sales went down by 7% to 10.2 billion. CEO Gerry Smith announced that there would be a new focus on services on top of retail sales. RetailDive claimed that this new strategy has improved the top-line sales of the company! Office Depot now offers a business to business service in the form of “BizBox,” a subscription program. The sub-unit provides services instead of products. Not only that, but the investment covers an IT firm called CompuCom as well.
Office Depot
Vitamin Shoppe
Vitamin retailers are in the same boat when it comes to improving sales. Vitamin, just like GNC, has decided to focus more on e-commerce and launched a subscription service as well. Despite these efforts, the company still experienced a decline of 8.5% to $1.2 billion in its top-line sales back in 2017. According to RetailDive, the problems that GNC and Vitamin Shoppe are facing have something to do with the declining popularity of shopping malls and the increasing number of competitors in the supplement market. Vitamin Shoppe remains hopeful that things will improve when they do events, start delivery services, expand categories, and more. We are keeping our fingers crossed for them!
Vitamin Shoppe
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus is a famous luxury clothing retailer that experienced a 5% decline to $4.7 billion in top-line sales in 2017. The company tried to improve things in a number of ways that, according to RetailDive, seem to be working. However, the company is still suffering from its interest expenses. Some suggestions include laying off over 200 employees and launching a “Digital First” customer engagement plan. A Canadian company by the name of Hudson’s Bay considered buying Neiman Marcus. There were sources that said they were in negotiations in March. Sadly, the plans did not push through because Hudson’s Bay was concerned about the decreasing sales of the high-end retailer.
Neiman Marcus
Bebe
Bebe started to see a decline in sales when creative director Neda Mashouf left the company. This happened in 2007 when she divorced the founder Manny Mashouf, who launched the retailer in 1979. RetailDive said that it is also suffering from the decline in the popularity of shopping malls. Reports claimed that the company experienced a $4.6 million operating loss in 2017. Bebe tried to fix the situation by avoiding the usual retail space and even paid $65 million to shutter physical stores and focus on e-commerce. In 2016, Forbes said that Bebe had 180 stores in operation.
Bebe
Pier 1 Imports
Jeffries is a research and strategy company that said Pier would have a “heavy investment year” in 2018 since it would handle its own “sourcing, merchandising, pricing, marketing, store ops, e-com, and supply chain.” During the first quarter of 2018, the company saw a 9.2% drop in net sales or $371.9 million year over year. The credit rating of the company also got a downgrade from S&P Global analysts. Even worse, Pres. Trump placed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. What makes this such bad news for the company is that more than half of the products sold by Pier 1 come from China.
Pier 1
Lands’ End
Land’s End focuses on luggage, clothing, and home furnishings. Sadly, customers do not seem to be appreciative of what it has to offer. CheatSheet said that things started to go downhill for the retailer thanks to its association with Sears, which went its own way in 2013. The catalog items sales, according to the website, are going strong. However, former CEO Federica Marchionni made a number of fatal mistakes. CheatSheet said that this included Canvas, a youthful brand aimed to attract fashion-forward clients and feature “designer styles to relaxed looks.” Sadly, the brand did not attract the target market.
Lands’ End
Guitar Center
In 2018, Guitar Center only had a year to pay off its debt of $900 million. The rock ‘n’ roll instrument retailer has been in the game for more than 50 years already, but maybe people are no longer into guitars. According to CheatSheet, the sales of the company went down by 36% between 2005 and 2016. Even though the instrument retailer is going through financial problems, it is still trying to open more stores. It was able to get out of the crisis with the help of emergency loans. The EVP of merchandising and e-commerce told Forbes that the company might be in transition but is still going strong.
Guitar Center
Southeastern Grocers
Winn-Dixie is a grocery chain that is in trouble because Southeastern Grocers, its operator, applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure some debt. It shuttered nearly a hundred stores and paid off a debt of $600 million. The company wants to shift the focus to rebranding and remodeling the remaining stores in the hopes that this will improve things for the company. CNBC reported that Southeastern Grocers, also the operator of Bi-Lo, is finding it tough to compete with e-commerce businesses and big-box stores. Based in Florida, Southeastern operates stores in southern states such as Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia as well.
Southeastern Grocers
Nine West
CheatSheet said that Nine West has a $1.5 billion debt that it is now trying to negotiate and restructure. According to Bloomberg, it includes selling off parts of the company and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Aside from this, it has also sold Easy Spirit and closed all stores but 25 in an attempt to remain afloat. The Washington Post claims that the Nine West Holdings has plans to shift the focus from footwear to jewelry and clothing brands such as Anne Klein, Kasper Grouper, and One Jeanswear Group. It said that the company suffered from the declining demand for ballet flats, heels, and sandals.
Nine West
David’s Bridal
Brides seem to prefer casual getups and more economical options for their weddings. This is the reason David’s Bridal and other wedding industry players are having a hard time. CheatSheet said that it needs to pay off its $520 million loan in 2019 and then $270 million in unsecured notes in 2020. CEO Scott Key must be trying to refinance the debts. According to RetailDive, this wedding dress superstore is in trouble because of declining sales, margins, and earnings. On top of that, S&P Global decided to downgrade the credit rating of the company in June 2018.
David’s Bridal
Bon-Ton
Bon-Ton has been in the game for a century now. Sadly, all good things come to an end. The department store and online retailer applied for bankruptcy in 2018, after which it got sold and liquidated. In October 2018, the company relaunched the e-commerce website and announced that it would reopen several stores. “The reinvented Bon-Ton would be sleeker, more e-commerce focused business,” said USA Today. The company was first launched in 1898 and saw a lot of success from the 1900s to the 2000s. CheatSheet said that it was successful because they were based in small towns that had no competition. However, the arrival of Amazon made things a lot harder for Bon-Ton.
Bon-Ton
Tops Market
Many companies end up filing for bankruptcy because they were unable to keep up with the interests of their customers. CheatSheet claims that this was the fate of Tops Market. It has experienced a sales drop thanks to competition, decreasing food prices, and non-traditional food sellers. In the end, Tops Market could not do anything but file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On the bright side, you can still visit your local Tops if you are in Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont since the grocery chain will continue operations over there. In July 2017, Buffalo News made us hope for the East Coast retailer when it announced that the company got out of the $80 million annual interest that is needed to pay in 2017.
Tops
Cole Haan
Cole Haan is a luxury footwear retailer that was included in the 2008 USA Today list of 26 at-risk companies. The company tried to keep up with the rise of sporty shoes by focusing on it instead of its trademark dress shoes. The brand was previously owned by Nike until Apax Partners bought it in 2013. Sadly, it had to do without the Nike comfort tech. It now has to compete with its former parent company. Unfortunately, USA Today said that it has yet to see any improvements.
Cole Haan
Charlotte Russe
In March 2019, CNBC said that Charlotte Russe had plans to liquidate and cease operations in all stores. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a month before that and originally wanted to shut down only 94 retail stores. Sadly, it shot up to 500 stores across the United States. CNBC claimed that this happened because a liquidator won the bankruptcy court auction. Charlotte Russe retail stores were typically located in malls, so the decreasing foot traffic definitely played a part in it.
Charlotte Russe
Claire’s
Claire’s is a place that many girls loved. The accessories and jewelry retailer was opened in 1961, but we are sad to hear that it has ceased IPO. As a matter of fact, CheatSheet even reported that a 2018 bankruptcy would likely happen, and it did. In March 2018, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and wanted to decrease its debt by a staggering $1.9 billion. It already closed 130 stores by May 2018. It is now planning to sell itself to buyers and investors. Best of luck to them.
Claire’s
FullBeauty Brands Holdings Corp
FullBeauty owns plus-size men and women brands such as Jessica London, Brylane Home, Ellos, Roaman’s, Woman Within, fullbeauty.com, and KingSize. The retailer also suffered from competition with Amazon. Apax Partners, its parent company, mentioned this when it talked to lenders in 2017. According to the company, the revenue saw a decline of 30% during the first quarter of 2017. FullBeauty also changed its executive team in July 2018 and brought Bob Riesbeck, Liz White, and Robert Lepere on board as the CFO, CCO, and CPO, respectively. We hope that they can help turn the tide in no time!
FullBeauty
Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer is an outdoor company that has some debt problems. In 2017, its parent company Golden State Capital wanted to sell it to alleviate some of its financial issues. That was also the year that S&P Global downgraded its credit ranking. The challenge is not really new to the company since it managed to bounce back from its 2009 bankruptcy. Golden State Capital stepped in to save the company by buying it in 2009. Nasdaq said that the brand was unable to keep up with new trends. The stock exchange is not very worried about it since a merger with Pacific Sunwear might be in the works.
Eddie Bauer
Bluestem Brands
Bluestem Brands is a retail company that sells apparel, electronics, appliances, health, and beauty products. It is the owner of 13 e-commerce sites including Bedford, Appleseed’s, Fingerhut, and Fair. The company was part of the Business Insider list of at-risk companies. A BusinessWire press release showed that its net sales dipped by 10.9% at $381.1 million in the first quarter of the 2017 fiscal year. However, the adjusted net sales did not include the exited businesses that decreased the decline to only 5.1%.
Bluestem
PetSmart Inc.
Many consumers are now relying on e-commerce sites since it offers more convenience and occasionally lower prices. PetSmart got hit by this trend as well. After its sales went down, PetSmart bought an e-commerce site called Chewy. However, it set the company back by $3.35 billion and became another burden on its back. As a matter of fact, Reuters said that this is the most expensive e-commerce site!
PetSmart
Payless
In 2017, Payless filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, laid off many employees, and shut down over 600 stores. The good news is that Payless was able to bounce back after it reorganized in August 2017. Sadly, S&P Capital Markets claims that it is in danger of nonpayment. While the shoe retailer had to shut down hundreds of stores, there are still 3,500 in operation. In 2017, CEO Paul Jones said, “We have accomplished our goals of strengthening our balance sheet and restructuring our debt load, positioning Payless to create substantial value for our stakeholders.”
Payless
BKH Acquisition Corp.
BKH Acquisition Corp, through Caribbean Restaurants, is in charge of running over a hundred Burger King joints in Puerto Rico. Sadly, the company was on the New Generation Research, Inc. list called Distressed Company Alert. It received a “low rating” in the report. On top of that, the company credit rating went from B- to CCC+ after it was evaluated by S&P Global Ratings on January 11, 2017. A credit analyst called Olya Naumova said that this happened because of the economic issues in Puerto Rico and the ongoing credit crisis of the company.
BKH Acquisition Corp.
Mattress Firm
We all need mattresses, but it looks like people are buying them at other places now. On October 5, 2018, Mattress Firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Their financial difficulties have something to do with an accounting scandal, as well as what CNBC referred to as “an onerous store footprint.” The company announced that it was going to sell 700 stores and cease operations in 200 more. It hopes to bounce back after letting go of unnecessary leases and restructuring the business.
Mattress Firm
National Stores
National Stores owns Conway, Fallas, and Anna’s Linens. In August 2018, the company applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced its plans to cease operations in 74 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. CNBC also said that trouble started after the company acquired a lot of brands and incurred debt to do so. It must not help that many locations are in open-air or stand-alone shopping centers as well.
National Stores
Gump’s Holdings
Gump’s Holding is a department store operator that also owns Gump’s Corp and Gump’s By Mail. It was unable to find a buyer and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2018. The press release claimed that the “overwhelmingly difficult retail environment” made things hard for the company. Gump’s By Mail was an attempt to launch an e-commerce site, but it failed to compete with Amazon. It is holding out for a buyer but plans to remain in operation. However, it is planning to get rid of merch and liquidate to repay creditors.
Gump’s
Brookstone
Brookstone also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2018. The company planned to shut down 101 stores across the United States. It is famous for home items and tech products. The company is now looking for a buyer, but the sale will be limited to airport stores, wholesale operations, and e-commerce sites. CNBC said that it is planning to shut down 101 stores overall.
Brookstone
Rockport
Rockport Group is a shoe retailer that operates in more than 60 countries. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2018. Charlesbank Capital Partners bought it after that and completed this acquisition by July 2018. We hope that the footwear store can make a comeback! We remain hopeful since the new owner also ventured in other industries and bought Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Princeton Review.
Rockport
The Walking Company
Wow, what is up with all these shoe companies losing money? The Walking Company makes comfy walking shoes. Sadly, the company applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2018. In reality, this was not a first for the footwear retailer. Ten years before this, it filed for bankruptcy as well! The good news is that it managed to come out of bankruptcy in July 2018. Good for them.
The Walking Company
Kiko USA
Kiko USA is a company that sells cosmetic products. It is a subsidiary of Kiko Milano. In January 2018, the USA company applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It wanted to solve its financial issues by shutting down almost all of its American stores. There are around 30 locations across the country, and they are all located in malls. On the bright side, the international business is doing well. Kiko USA has been trying to negotiate with landlords to bring down the rent, as well as terminate leases.
Kiko USA
A’gaci
In January 2018, a womenswear retailer called A’Gaci also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It had been trying to renegotiate its leases on 49 stores. The press release claimed that two-thirds of company expenses went to these leases! A’gaci was able to come out of bankruptcy later that year, in the summer. It planned to keep 55 stores and 1,500 workers. On top of that, it got a loan worth as much as $12 million in June. This company is definitely faring better than the others on our list!
A’gaci
Toys R Us
Toys R Us got a lot of press attention when it was in financial trouble. It applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2018 and planned to liquidate all the stores. This led to big clearance sales in the 735 stores located in the United States. Business Insider said that it hoped to close right away to avoid paying the leases. The owners canceled the bankruptcy auction at the end of 2018, however. The media is now wondering if it is planning a comeback soon!
Toys R Us
Bertucci’s
Bertucci’s is a casual Italian restaurant chain that applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the spring of 2018. It shut down about 15 locations in April. The company used to have 59 joints in 10 states. Earl Enterprises acquired the company for $20 million. The new owner also has stakes on Earl of Sandwich, Planet Hollywood, and Buca di Beppo. According to Biz Journals, the deal was divided into $13 million debt, $3 million cash, and $4 million credit. Apparently, Bertucci’s struggled with competitors.
Bertucci’s
Gymboree
CNBC said that the children’s clothing company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2019. The company said that it would stop the operation of all Crazy 8 stores and 800 Gymboree stores. In March, the company announced changes brought on by the acquisition of Gymboree and Crazy 8 by Children’s Place. The Gap, meanwhile, bought customer data, the website, and the intellectual property of Janie and Jack. This is one of the children-centric brands under the Gymboree brand.
Gymboree
Diesel USA
This denim apparel retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 5, 2019. Diesel said that the declining wholesale orders were caused by a “general downturn in the brick-and-mortar retail industry.” It was also due to high leases, dropping net sales, and even fraud and theft. Diesel said that it would reorganize and relocate store locations to somewhere “with a smaller footprint.” It also hoped to rebrand, shut down certain stores, launch a Miami pop-up shop, and open locations in strategic places.
Diesel
Imerys Talc America Inc.
Imerys Talc America Inc. is the supplier of talc powder for Johnson & Johnson’s. However, this might change soon. Bloomberg said that its Paris unit, as well as those in Canada and Vermont, applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2019. The company is facing 14,000 claims in the United States that caused this. Women alleged that the talc powder let to ovarian cancer and mesothelioma!
Imerys
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)
Pacific Gas and Electric filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 29, 2019, due to the California wildfires in 2017 and 2018. The company is hoping to approve $235 million worth of employee bonuses. “$235 million would go a long way to support the victims of last year’s wildfires,” said Senator Jerry Hill. After all, this bankruptcy filing meant that victims and creditor claims are in limbo.
PG&E
Things Remembered
Things Remembered applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 6, 2019. Best known for personalized keepsakes and engraved jewelry, the gift shop remains open if you are planning to make a special gift. RetailDive said that the company was bought off by Enesco, a gift and home décor company. The online, direct mail, B2B retail operations, and 176 locations are keeping the company name too.
Things Remembered
Innovative Mattress Solutions
On January 14, 2019, Innovative Mattress Solutions applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company also owns Mattress King and Sleep Outfitters. According to USA Today, the mattress company from Kentucky will probably stop operations in 142 stores.
Innovative Mattress Solutions
Z Gallerie
Z Gallerie is an LA-based retailer that applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 11, 2019. SF Gate said that the home furniture company wants to shut down 17 stores and look for a buyer so that it would not need to liquidate. The bankruptcy was allegedly caused by self-imposed problems. The company wished that it invested in e-commerce more instead of shelling out a lot of money on distribution centers. Z Gallerie failed to meet performance goals and needs a quick proceeding.
Z Gallerie
Beauty Brands
Beauty Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 4, 2019. Kansas City Star said that the brand put certain assets for sale. The article also said that advertising icon Bob Bernstein is thinking of buying the company. He originally launched the company, so it made sense that he was the “stalking horse bidder.” Beauty Brands and Hilco Merchant Resources had originally been in an asset purchasing agreement. The partner used to be the stalking horse bidder before the title went to Bernstein.
Beauty Brands
Shopko
According to Business Insider, Shopko applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 16, 2019. It hoped to shut down 70% of the retail stores between February and May 2019 as it organized. The company announced plans to shutter 251 stores in February, which meant leaving 110 locations open. It also planned to shut down more stores in December. Shopko spokeswoman Michelle Hansen explained, “Through our conversations with the potential buyers, it has become clear that it is in our best interest to operate with a significantly smaller store footprint.”
Shopko
The Weinstein Company
We are sure that you heard about all the sexual misconduct allegations filed against Harvey Weinstein. Many influential women stepped up to accuse the film executive of harassment and rape. The Weinstein Company applied for bankruptcy protection in March 2018. Lantern Capital Partners bought it in May 2018, however. According to the New York Times, the private-equity firm paid $310 million and assumed $115 million in debt. The firm portfolio has auto dealerships and a zinc recycling company.
Weinstein
Macy’s
When Macy’s announces closures, it typically happens after the holiday season. However, they already announced that they are closing several stores before that. In 2018, they closed down twelve locations. This was followed by four more in 2019. Even though the company is still making money, it decided to be cautious about what it spends its money on. This is the reason they started to shut down stores that did not bring in a satisfactory amount of profit.
Macy’s
Nordstrom
We are sure that you might be surprised to hear this if you are a big fan of Nordstrom. The company did not invest money in rescuing its physical locations but decided to pour in more effort into their Rack locations and e-commerce site. Even if this is the case, the retailer will be opening a flagship store with 7 floors in the Big Apple. Even though you have not seen many locations closing, they are doing it quietly.
Nordstrom
Target
Target is not really going anywhere any time soon, so do not fret too much. Six locations shut down earlier in the year, and they closed six more before the year came to a close. In 2018, the company had to shut down 13 locations, and 12 more the year before that. It does not mean that the retailer is in danger, however. The company is planning to open 30 new but smaller locations. It is also remodeling around 300 large locations in the years to come. Don’t worry, it is only downsizing and restructuring.
Target
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor is the oldest department store in America. However, this did not save it from financial problems. In 2019, the chain announced that it will close 9 locations, and the list includes the famous flagship store on Fifth Avenue. A lot of people believe that it is struggling because most locations are found in shopping malls. We already know that this is not doing retailers any favors. The company decided to partner with Walmart as a way to stay afloat. There are more than 125 name brands from Lord & Taylor on the Walmart website these days.
Lord & Taylor
Topshop
We are sure that you are familiar with the British fashion chain Topshop. It entered the American market in 2009 and received good reception. A decade after that, the company decided to close all physical stores even in major cities such as Miami, San Diego, Houston, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Even though there are no longer brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S., it is still possible to shop online and get their products from Nordstrom. What a relief it is to hear that!
Topshop
Barneys New York
Barneys is a luxury department store that filed for bankruptcy and shut down over 15 stores before 2019 came to a close. Like a lot of retailers, the company says that the profits took a big hit after foot traffic in malls went down. This is especially true for high-end products and brands. In the meantime, Barneys plans to keep its legendary New York locations in operation, but we do not know what the future has in store for this luxury store.
Barneys New York
Walmart
Walmart, the retail giant, planned to shut down at least 18 locations last year. Sadly, this meant that hundreds of people lost their jobs in the process. Of these stores, ten of them were neighborhood market stores. Two were located on college campuses, and the last 6 are full-sized locations.
Walmart
Francesca’s
Francesca’s is a retail chain that sells women’s accessories and clothing. It has been struggling for a fair amount of time already. The prices at the store are not making customers drop by for a visit, and this is one of their main issues. We all know that it is important to get people through the door. This has resulted in low sales. In 2019, the company announced that it would close 40 locations across the US.
Francesca’s
CVS
We are sure that you will be alarmed when you hear that CVS shut down 46 stores in 2019. However, it makes more sense when you hear that they are closing only 46 out of 9,600. The company shut down the most “underperforming” locations. One of the store closures would be the biggest one in the United States, the 64,00 sq. ft. store located in Springfield, Missouri. For your reference, the average location is only 13,000 sq. ft. At any rate, you should not worry too much since CVS is going to stick around for now.
CVS
Kmart
Walmart, Target, and Kmart all started at around the same time in the ‘60s. They were considered to be three giant retail stores, but it looks like one of them might be out of the game soon. Kmart shut down more than 150 locations in 2018. It did not stop in 2019 either since it planned to shut down 53 more stores. In 2000, Kmart had more than 2,200 stores across the United States. Now, there are fewer than 200 in operation.
Kmart
Party City
Party City typically shuts down 10 to 15 stores across the nation in a normal year. However, 2019 was worse than usual since there were 55 store closures. The world is now facing the third helium shortage in 14 years, which did not help improve things for Party City. On top of that, a lot of people have stopped buying party balloons as well. According to the retailer, the company is only trying to shift its focus so that it can improve the more profitable stores. Well, that does make a lot of sense.
Party City
Bed Bath & Beyond
In April 2019, Bed Bath & Beyond announced that it would shut down 40 stores that year. However, they eventually increased the number to 60 stores. You should not worry, however, since they announced the opening of 15 new stores. Without the home store, we have no idea where we would get our kitchen tools and other home appliances. We are glad to hear that it will still be around. Whew!
Bed Bath & Beyond
Signet Jewelers
Signet Jewelers is the company responsible for lines like Kay Jewelers, Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, and Zales. However, the parent company planned to close 150 locations in 2019. The big shut down is part of a 3-year plan to close 13% of its stores. Just so you know, there were 3,500 stores worldwide before this. The company wanted to pull the stores out of malls and focus on e-commerce. In fact, their e-commerce site saw a sales increase of 10% that year.
Signet Jewelers
Forever 21
We are having a tough time remembering what it was like when teens and young adults did not shop at Forever 21. However, it is pretty disappointing to hear that the fashion retailer wanted to shut down 178 locations before the end of 2019. It applied for bankruptcy, which made its loyal fanbase worry. However, Forever 21 reassured its clients that it is doing whatever they could to ensure that it would have a successful future. Even though the clothing is trendy and cheap, it is not of the best quality. One reason the company is doing so badly is that eco-friendly customers are no longer into fast fashion.
Forever 21
GameStop
We are aware that people prefer to do their physical goods shopping online nowadays. This also applies to video games! As of late, people are no longer taking the time to drop by a video game store. Instead, they prefer to simply download it from the internet. Gamestop boasts 5,700 locations in 14 countries. However, they announced that they were closing 200 locations in 2019. This happened because the sales witnessed a decline of 14.3% in that year alone.
GameStop
Walgreens
Walgreens has fared even worse than CVS, apparently. It closed 200 stores in 2019! This might be less than 3% of the total stores, but it is still a lot. Just so you know, a lot of people became jobless because of this. Generic drug is now cheap, which has made it a struggle for Walgreens to stay afloat in terms of cash flow. The struggles it is facing caused it to partner with Urban Outfitters and other stores. Online shoppers can now pick up their packages at a Walgreens location! This is not a bad idea if you ask us.
Walgreens
Charming Charlie
Have you noticed that there are fewer Charming Charlie locations recently? The company filed for bankruptcy two times in only two years. This caused the store to close nearly all of its stores in 38 states and went out of business. Charlie Chanaratsopon, the founder of the company, said that he is hoping to bring it back from the dead soon. He also shelled out $1.1 million so he could secure the intellectual property and the name of the accessories store.
Charming Charlie
Chico’s
Once a popular women’s clothing retailer, Chico’s announced in March 2019 that it planned to shut down 100 Chico’s, 60 Soma, and 90 White House Black Market locations across the country. This plan will be carried out in the next 3 years. Even though a lot of stores closed, it realized that the best course of action was to take e-commerce seriously. It is now possible to buy Chico’s items from Amazon.
Chico’s
Lowe’s
Lowe’s is a home improvement company that shut down 51 stores across Canada and the United States in 2019. This means that the retailer will still have 2,000 stores in operation, but it is now downsizing. The company said that the closures are necessary since some of them were too close to each other that they are essentially competing with each other. The 51 store closures left thousands of people jobless.
Lowe’s
Michael Kors
Michael Kors is an upscale accessories brand that wants to shut down 125 retail locations. The physical stores are just not making a lot of profit as they did in the past. The company is doing its best to adapt to this difficult sales environment. However, you will eventually need to face the music and do what you must if you want to keep the company in the game.
Michael Kors