With the enhancement of the e-commerce industry, classic physical stores seem to suffer. There have been so many international and national brands that have closed, and in recent years retailers have also closed their physical stores. While this is disappointing to many, the trend is also increasing in 2020. In all areas, different types of businesses are closing down. Make sure to visit while you can and stay updated with this list, on which of your favorites stores are closing branches.
Closing
Payless
Payless ShoeSource seems to be the retailer with the most amount of store closures this year. Over 2,500 stores are closing this year and they are having endless clearance sales at the moments. Most of the stores closed in March, but there are a few still hanging on until May.
Payless
Gymboree
In the middle of January, the children’s clothing retailer, Gymboree Group Inc., filed for bankruptcy 11. They have recently announced their plans to close nearly 800 Crazy 8 and Gymboree Stores In Canda and the United States. They have also stopped with online orders and the physical stores are in the liquidation process. This is the second time in two years that the retailer has filed bankruptcy.
Gymboree
Charlotte Russe
After their announcement in March, that Charlotte Russe would have to close their entire chain, many were saddened by this news. As of April 20, all stores were closed, but costumers were still able to purchase items during liquidation based on location.
Charlotte Russe
Shopko
Shopko recently said they would close about 70% of their stores by May, but then altered this announcement to say that they were closing all stores. Soon after they filed for bankruptcy. They were intent on finding a buyer, but sadly they were not successful. As a result, they must liquidate all merchandise and close the remaining stores by June 2020.
Shopko
Gap
In the upcoming two years, Gap plans to close nearly half of its total stores, nearly 230 locations. Also, they plan to boost their sister company, Old Navy, because of its continued success compared to the Banana Republic and Gap. Also, stores like Intermix, Athleta, Hill City, Banana Republic, and Gap will be under the name NewCo.
Gap
H&M
We all know and love the retailer H& M as the staple of every mall. However, after 2020 it will likely close over 160 locations. While in the U.S it is showing a decline due to the market, it has been seeing a higher growth across the world. As a result, they plan to establish over 355 stores outside the U.S.
H&M
Starbucks
Nearly a year ago, Starbucks said they would be closing 150 stores that were not performing well, and since then the number has tripled. Also, they said that this closure will probably impact big cities where different branches of Starbucks compete against one another.
Starbucks
The Children’s Place
The Children’s Place once announced that they would be closing 300 underperforming stores by 2020. However, before 2018 even ended they closed over 100 stores. The retailer is also actively trying to boost its online appearance to enhance profits.
The Children’s Place
Performance Bicycle
Sorry to all you bicycle fans, your favorite bike retailer has said goodbye forever. With all 105 stores closed, and its parent company Advanced Sports Enterprises filing for bankruptcy, its clear they have seen better days. Originally, they intended to save 50% of their locations by negotiating their leases but they had no such luck.
Performance Bicycle
Sears
Sears Holdings owns both Kmart and its stores and planned to close around 89 locations by March 2020. Between Florida and Texas, these two regions appeared to be the most impacted with 7 stores shutdown in each state.
Sears
Lowe’s
Lowe’s, the well known, home and garden retailer has announced its plan to close 51 stores around the world. This included 20 stores in the US and 31 in Canada. This plan arrived at the end fo 2018 and panned to finish by February 1, 2020. This originated right after Marvin R. Ellison, former CEO of J.C. Penney took control of the company when the former CEO retired.
Lowe’s
Vera Bradley
Currently, the brand Vera Bradley is thinking about they can get rid of their physical stores, but continue producing their brand. They will be selling their products through Macy’s and Bed Bath and Beyond, and by 2021 will close almost half of its stores. Don’t get too disappointed yet, you can still visit the outlets!
Vera Bradley
Abercrombie & Fitch
By February 2020, Abercrombie & Fitch planned to close 40 stores in the United States primarily. In 2018 they also closed 29 stores. According to the Business Insider Reports, the spokesperson for the company said that they will continue to invest in the existing stores through “delivering approximately 85 new experiences, including 40 new stores, with continued reduction in overall square footage.”
Abercrombie & Fitch
Christopher & Banks
At the end of 2018, Christopher & Banks expressed their pans to close around 30 to 40 locations by 2020. You may think that this is because of a decline in sales, but on the contrary, their e-commerce business has enhanced and is likely to rise.
Christopher & Banks
Victoria’s Secret
By the end of 2018, Victoria Secret closed 30 of its stores and announced plans to close more. L Brand, its parent company, said in February that it will shut down around 53 or locations. This includes about 4% of its locations worldwide.
Victoria’s Secret
Henri Bendel
At the beginning of 2020., Henri Bendel closed about two dozen stores around the world. Back in 2018, L Brands, which is its parent company, said that all Henri Bendel stores would close. The company chose to focus on more successful brands like Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret.
Henri Bendel
Chico’s
Over the next three years, Chico’s FAS, which is the parent company of womenswear chain retailer Chico’s, said they will close 250 locations. This includes its brand, as well as Soma and White House Black Market. It is not clear which locations will be directly affected.
Chico’s
e.l.f Cosmetics
Like many businesses, e.l.f Cosmetics is planning to shut down many of its physical stores and focus solely on e-commerce sales. Reaching the end of march they closed around 22 stores. Don’t stress yet, you can still purchase products on their websites or in various pharmacies.
elf
Family Dollar
in 2020 the discount chain store, Dollar Tree will close around 390 Family Dollar Stores by 2020. Also, they are planning to change the name of 200 branches and in several locations will start charging more than $1 for items.
Family Dollar
J.C. Penney
JCPenney has been the staple of every mall for years but its time for some chance. In recent months, sales have gone down and after the unfortunate holiday season, they announced their closure of 18 department stores in 2020. Also, 9 furniture stores will be shut down.
J.C. Penney
Z Gallerie
Everyone knows that if you need high-class home furniture than Z Gallerie is the place to go. However, we also can add it to the list of retailers filing for bankruptcy. They are hoping to find a buyer to save them, but as of now will be closing 20% of stores.
Z Gallerie
Destination Maternity
As a way to boost the company, Destination maternity Corp. plans to decrease its retail stores and enhance online sales. Nearly 42-67 stores will shut down within this year. The goal is to decrease store expenses and increase online activity. They also may try to open smaller stores.
Destination Maternity
Beauty Brands
in 2018, Beauty Bands first planned to shut down around 25 stores. In January of 2020, they lowerest their corporate staff and filed for bankruptcy. They said, ” the company suffered from the increased operating cost as a predominantly brick and mortar retailer.”
Beauty Brands
Things Remembered
In February, Things Remembered filed for 11 bankruptcy but thankfully got lucky with a buyer to help them. Enesco LLC bought 176 locations from this retailer, but unfortunately, only a minority of the company was saved. Out of 450 stores, around 250 will close down.
Things Remembered
Ascena Retail
Ascena Retail is known for being the parent company to several women’s clothing brands like Ann Taylor, Loft, Dress Barn, and Lane Bryant. However, the overall sales of the company have been going down for many years. Nearly 667 locations are going to close overall and the first 400 by July.
Ascena Retail
Southeastern Grocers
Not only clothing retailers have seen better days, but grocery stores as well. Southeastern Grocers the company operating Harveys, Bi-Lo, and Winn-Dixie, closed 22 stores in March. This happened not even a year after Southeastern Grocers recovered from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Out fo all the brands, Bi-Lo will suffer the most.
Southeastern Grocers
Lord & Taylor
After 100 years of business, Lord & Taylor closed its store located on Fifth Avenue last year. This year it seems like more stores will close down as well. Around 10 stores will shut down in 2020, but it has not been confirmed which locations.
Lord & Taylor
Foot Locker
As of March, Foot Locker announced it plans to close around 167 stores. They said they would focus on the remaining stores, investing millions. Fortunately, they saw good performance in the last year’s fourth quarter.
Foot Locker
Macy’s
At the beginning of the year, we saw 8 Macy’s locations being closed down. This is just the beginning of the closures that the store intends on. This will impact two areas in California, as well as one store in Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
Macy’s
J. Crew
J.Crew has been the talk of the town lately. At the end of 2018, they lost their CEO and began shutting stores down. They started with 6 and plan to close 30 through 2020. They enacted this plan last summer, but the final amount they plan to close is still unknown.
J. Crew
Kohl’s
Kohl’s wants to avoid the same difficulties that other retailers have faces and decided on its own to close four stores inside or near the malls. These stores had low performances, and the store workers were given severance checks or the option to work at another Kohl location. In this case, the need isn’t so crucial, but they are closing down to avoid plummeting. They want to keep the same amount of job, and they will do this by opening four small ones.
Kohl’s
J. Crew
Sorry former first lady Michelle Obama, your favorite clothing store J. Crew is saying goodbye. Lately, sales have decreased drastically. The company also bid farewell to its EO, Millard “Mickey” Drexler, which explains why things went south.
J. Crew
99 Cents Only
The 99 centers only store is known for being a competitor of other big-name stores like Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Dollar General. Back in 2017, the company saw an overall $27.1 million loss combined with a $42.4 million from the first and second quarters. After 35 years, the company was finally sold to Ares Management, then to Canada Pension Plan and then became a private business. The new CEO has some positive things to say but overall the store is going down rapidly.
99 Cents Only
GNC
The health and nutritional product store, GNC, saw a 3.4% decline in revenue in 2017. The company now has overwhelming debt and a decrease in sales as well as profits. They have subsequently sold 40% of shares to a Chinese pharmaceutical company and plan to reinvent themselves online and in China.
GNC
Fred’s Pharmacy
Fred’s pharmacy planned to boost themselves by increasing stores from 600 to 1,000. In the last year, their overall sales reduced by 4.3%. The CEO left in 2018, giving the reigns to the former media executive. Afterward, Fred’s sold CVS for $40 million.
Fred’s Pharmacy
Stein Mart
Stein Mart is a discount department store based out of Jacksonville. This beloved store doesn’t seem to be doing so well though. In 2017 they managed to balance their sales and boost digital revenue by 47% but overall lost $23.4. Hopefully, some financial assistance can get them out of this mess.
Stein Mart
Office Depot
In 2017, Office Depot, the beloved office supplier saw a 7% sales decrease. The CEO Gerry Smith decided to provide services to try and revamp themselves. This helped them and lead to their creation of “BizBox”, which is a subscription program.
Office Depot
Vitamin Shoppe
Similarly to GNC, the Vitamin Shoppe is facing very similar deficits. They have been working hard on their online business and currently have a subscription service at work to tackle these shortcomings. As of 2017, they had an 8.5% drop in sales. This is mostly because of more competitors today and fewer people are going to the mall. They are trying to expand categories and begin delivery services to combat this time.
Vitamin Shoppe
Neiman Marcus
At the end of 2017, the famous retailer Neiman Marcus saw its sales go down to $4.7 billion. They spoke about cutting 200 jobs and focus on their customer engagement plan, known as “Digital First.” There was also a plan in the works for the Canadian company Hudson Bay to buy the retailer, but that never happened.
Neiman Marcus
Bebe
In 2007, the creator of Bebe left the company after going through a difficult divorce. Since then the sales have noticeable declined. Unfortunately, this in part is due to the decline in mall popularity, resulting in major setbacks for the company. As an attempt to save themselves, they paid $65 million to shut down stores and concentrate on e-commerce.
Bebe
Pier 1 Imports
At the beginning of 2018, Pier 1 Imports suffered a 9.2 % reduction in overall sales. Then, their credit rating also went down due to S&P Global analysts. Also, Trump has put a 10% tax on Chinese goods which explains why they are crumbling as most of their items originate in China.
Pier 1
Lands’ End
Land’s End is clothing, luggage, and home furnishing brand that used to be the most popular one of its kind. Today, it has been facing many problems, mostly because of its relationship with Sears. Despite their successful merchandise sales, the past CEO has made several mistakes that can not be ignored.
Lands’ End
Guitar Center
For nearly 50 years, Guitar Center has existed and untouched. Guitar sales around the world have decreased and this instrument retailer had one year to pay off its $900 billion debt, after suffering through a severe drop in sales between 2015 and 2016. Despite this, they intend on opening new stores. The Executive VP of merchandise also says that the company is going through a transition stage but going strong.
Guitar Center
Nine West
Nine West is a famous and well-known shoe retailer that plans to sell shares of the company and file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, as a result of a debt of $1.5 billion. They have closed 25 stores and let go of their Easy Spirit Brand. Also, they will not be focused solely on shoes and now more so on clothes and accessories featuring brands like Kasper Grouper, Anne Klein, and One Jeanswear Group.
Nine West
David’s Bridal
While women used to wait all their lives for expensive and lavish wedding dresses, this is not too common anymore. Nowadays, many brides are going with less expensive, less fancy gowns which is a problem for stores like David’s Bridal. As of now, they have seen declines in sales and also have a loan of $20 to be paid off soon.
David’s Bridal
Bon-Ton
This department store and the online site has existed for nearly 100 years by now. However, this store that seemed untouchable has filed for bankruptcy. After that, it was sold and liquidated. Fortunately, in 2018 out opened online and several stores reopened. Things were going well until amazon got in the picture.
Bon-Ton
Tops Market
The East Coast grocery chain, Tops Market filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but fortunately, residents of Pennsylvania, Vermont, and NY can still enjoy the stores that exist as they are open in the meantime.
Tops
Cole Haan
In 2018, under the list of companies most at risk was the Nike-owner luxury footwear brand Cole Haan. They decided to boost their image and began to focus on athletic shoes. This did not work for them sadly.
Cole Haan
Claire’s
In 1961, the adored accessories store Claires first was created. It was loved by young girls all around the United States. In 2018, the stopped IPO and filed for bankruptcy. They also closed over 130 stores, and the remaining will be sold to investors.
Claire’s