Things started to go downhill for brick-and-mortar stores with the rise of e-commerce. Plenty of national and international brands have since decided to shut down several, if not all, stores. Over the past couple of years, retailers decided that the best course of action would be to close physical stores and focus on online sales instead. It turns out that this trend is only going to go up some more this year, and it has affected everything from electronics to clothing to home goods. Get ready to say goodbye to the stores of these companies!
Companies That Are Shutting Down Stores Across The Nation
Payless
Payless Shoe Source boasts the highest number of store closures among the stores listed in this slideshow. The company plans to shut down more than 2,500 stores. Clearance sales are going to happen because the shoe retailer wants to sell all the goods and then liquidate. There are stores that are going to remain open until May, but other stores have been closed as early as March.
Payless
Gymboree
Children’s clothing retailer Gymboree Group Inc. applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in mid-January. The company has also announced that it was going to close nearly 800 stores, both Crazy 8 and Gymboree, across the United States and Canada. Online transactions have since been halted, although some stores stayed open to undergo liquidation sales. It was the second time that Gymboree had to file for bankruptcy in only two years. In 2017, several stores had been shut down as well.
Gymboree
Charlotte Russe
In March 2019, Charlotte Russe confirmed that the entire chain was going to shut down. It encapsulated more than 500 stores across the nation. Before that, the company announced that it was only going to close 94 stores. The rest remained open until April 30. Even though online sales are no longer possible, people still had the chance to buy items on site when the liquidation sales had been going on.
Charlotte Russe
Shopko
Shopko made an announcement that it planned to shut down 70 percent of the stores by May 2019. The company ended up revising this to announce that all stores would be closed for good. Shopko applied for bankruptcy protection in January last year and hoped that a buyer would come in to help save the remaining stores. Sadly, it failed to find a buyer on time and ended up closing all locations by June.
Shopko
Gap
Gap Inc. has plans to close around 230 stores in the next two years. This number is nearly half of its total number of locations around the globe. On top of that, the company is hoping to revamp Gap’s sister company Old Navy as a separate company. Apparently, Old Navy has done much better than Gap and Banana Republic when it comes to sales. The company still operates stores Athleta, Banana Republic, Intermex, and some Gap Stores. However, they will now be run under the new name, NewCo.
Gap
Starbucks
During the previous summer, Starbucks said that it was going to permanently shut down 150 underperforming locations this year. This is three times the average number of stores that it shuts down in a fiscal year. However, the coffee shop retailer explained that it was going to shut down stores in big cities with oversaturated markets. In those places, the stores are basically competing with each other.
Starbucks
The Children’s Place
In the past, the Children’s Place made an announcement that it was going to close 300 underperforming stores by 2020. According to Forbs, the children’s goods company already shut down 191 stores before the end of 2018, which means that it still had more than 100 stores to shutter. The company is planning to invest in its online presence to drive up the profit margins.
The Children’s Place
Performance Bicycle
We have bad news for you if you are a cyclist. The biggest bike retailer in the company has shut down for good. All 104 locations have been shut down, the last one closing its doors on March 2, 2019. In the previous fall, the mother company Advanced Sports Enterprises applied for bankruptcy protection. The company initially hoped to save 50 percent or more of its locations with the renegotiation on the leases. Sadly, the final decision was to simply close the retailer in its entirety. You will be missed!
Performance Bicycle
Sears
Sears Holdings is the company that owns Kmart and the namesake store. Early last year, it announced its plans to shut down about 89 stores by March 2019. It released the list of the stores and revealed that locations all over the country would be affected. Texas and Florida suffered the most since the two southern states witnessed 7 store closures.
Sears
Lowe’s
Lowe’s is a popular garden and home goods retailer. It has already closed 51 stores, and they were all underperforming. The closures took place in 2019. Of the 51 locations, 31 were in Canada and 20 were in the United States. By the end of 2018, Lowe’s announced its plans and set the target completion date to February 1, 2020. The company made the decision to shut down stores after former J.C. Penney CEO Marvin R. Ellison took over the company upon the departure of longtime Lowe CEO Robert Niblock.
Lowe’s
Vera Bradley
Vera Bradley has been reconsidering its approach to business. It decided to focus less on traditional physical stores and more on licensing instead. The brand is going to keep selling home merchandise but through retailers like Bed Bath and Beyond and Macy’s. The company is also planning to close up to 50 stores out of 110 by 2021. This is the year that many leases are due to expire. Customers still have the opportunity to drop by a physical store since 52 factory outlets remain open.
Vera Bradley
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch announced that it would close down 40 stores by February 2020. Most of these stores are located in the United States. This number is a little more than its 29 store closures in 2018. It is not going very well. Business Insider said that a company spokesperson claimed that the company will work on investing in the remaining locations by “delivering approximately 85 new experiences, including 40 new stores, with continued reduction in overall square footage.”
Abercrombie & Fitch
Christopher & Banks
Towards the end of 2018, Christopher & Banks announced that it was planning to close anywhere from 30 to 40 stores in the following two years. Despite this, it does not mean that its sales are on a decline across the board. The e-commerce sales of the company went up and are expected to keep increasing!
Christopher & Banks
Victoria’s Secret
In 2018, the lingerie and womenswear retailer closed 30 locations and plans to keep closing even more stores. In February 2019, L Brand, the parent company, announced that it was going to shutter 53 more. The number of store closures is equal to 4 percent of the 1,143 Victoria’s Secret stores worldwide.
Victoria’s Secret
Henri Bendel
In early 2020, every single one of the two dozen Henri Bendel stores across the nation shut down. In the fall of 2018, its mother company L Brands announced that everything, from the website to the famous Fifth Avenue location would cease operations. This decision was made in line with the company’s choice to focus on its better performing brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.
Henri Bendel
Chico’s
Over the course of three years, Chico’s parent company Chico’s FAS plans to shut down 250 stores. The womenswear chain retailer is not the only brand affected because aside from the namesake line, this decision also extends to two more brands: White House Black Market and Soma. At any rate, the company has not yet confirmed which locations are going to cease operations.
Chico’s
e.l.f Cosmetics
e.l.f. Cosmetics is yet another company that plans to shut down physical stores and then focus on e-commerce sales. By the end of March 2019, 22 of the beauty brand’s locations shut down. However, you do not need to panic if you are a big fan of the brand. After all, you can still buy e.l.f. products via the official website and drugstores all over the country.
elf
Family Dollar
Dollar Tree is a popular discount retailer. However, it said that it was going to shut down around 390 locations in 2020. Yes, you might soon have to look for a different place when you need essential items such as personal care products. Aside from that, 200 branches are going to be renamed. We have one last piece of bad news, and this one might just be the worst. They are planning to charge more than just a dollar in a number of stores!
Family Dollar
J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney has been a mall staple for a number of years now. Sadly, its sales have also gone downhill over the last couple of months. It suffered from a dry spell in the holiday season, as well as a stock value decline. After all of these things, the company announced its plans to close 18 department stores this year. Not only this, but it also plans to shut down 9 furniture stores. This means 27 stores will go down.
J.C. Penney
Z Gallerie
Z Gallerie is an upscale home furniture retailer. Sadly, it also had to file for bankruptcy not that long ago. The company is said to be searching for a buyer to help alleviate its issues. Until then, Z Gallerie plans to shutter 17 stores, which makes up about 20 percent of its total number of stores all over the country!
Z Gallerie
Destination Maternity
Destination Maternity Corp. has plans to bring down its retail presence in an attempt to bring the company back to life and boost e-commerce sales. Anywhere from 42 to 67 stores are going to be affected by the store closures in the future. This decision was made to lower store expenses and expand the online presence of the company. According to USA Today, the company also wants to open smaller locations “with reduced square footage to drive higher productivity.”
Destination Maternity
Beauty Brands
In 2018, Beauty Brands said that it would shutter 25 locations. In January 2019, the beauty retailer cut down the size of the corporate staff and applied for bankruptcy. If you look at the documents in the filing, it said that the company said that increasing operating costs made its situation very difficult as “a predominantly brick and mortar retailer.”
Beauty Brands
Things Remembered
In February 2019, Things Remembered applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Luckily, it was able to find a buyer that saved a number of stores across the United States. Enesco LLC purchased 176 locations of this company that specializes in personalized items and engraved products. Sadly, the company still suffered a lot of store closures. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, it boasted 450 stores. This means that over 250 stores had to be closed!
Things Remembered
Ascena Retail
Ascena Retail is the mother company of a number of female clothing retailers such as Lane Bryant, Loft, Ann Taylor, and Dress Barn. The total sales of the conglomerate have been going down over the past few years. In order to recover from this, the company wanted to shut down hundreds of stores across the brands. Around 667 locations are meant to close down, and the first 400 took place by July 2019.
Ascena Retail
Southeastern Grocers
We are sad to report that supermarkets are also going through some tough times. Southeastern Grocers is known for operating stores like Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo, and Harveys. It announced its plans to shut down 22 stores by March 25, 2019. This decision happened not even a year after the company recovered from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. During the first filing, the company was forced to shut down 94 stores. Among its three brands, Bi-Lo is the most affected one because 13 locations were planned to cease operations.
Southeastern Grocers
Lord & Taylor
After staying in the game for over 100 years, Lord & Taylor made the tough call to shut down its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in the past year. Sadly, more stores are due to cease operations. It is planning to close as much as ten more stores in 2020. However, we do not know which locations they will be yet.
Lord & Taylor
Foot Locker
In March 2019, Foot Locker Inc. said that it was closing 167 stores across the nation. It wanted to spend more money on the remaining locations even if it meant spending millions to do so. This is a move made to bring up its profits. The shareholders were surprised and impressed by how well it did in Q4 of 2018.
Foot Locker
Macy’s
Macy’s shut down 8 stores during the early part of 2019. These closures make up a part of its series of store closures that were announced and planned several years ago. The plan is going to affect two stores in California and one store in the following states of Indiana, Virginia, Washington, New York, Massachusetts, and Wyoming.
Macy’s
J. Crew
Have you noticed how often J. Crew makes it to the headlines? In late 2018, the company lost its CEO. After that, the company kicked off 2020 with 6 store closures in January. This move was part of its current plan to close 30 stores. The plan was made known in the previous summer. At the moment, the company has yet to reveal just how many stores it is planning to close to meet its goals.
J. Crew
Kohl’s
Kohl’s does not want to suffer the same fate that other retailers with mall stores did. This is the reason it plans to shut down four stores that are either located near or inside malls this year. The company said that they are “lower performing” stores. On top of that, it announced that the employees were offered a job at a different location or severance pay. The good news is that these closures seem to be a preventive measure instead of a last-ditch effort. You will be happy to hear that the company is planning to keep the current number of stores by launching four smaller locations.
Kohl’s
J. Crew
Are you aware that former first lady of the United States Michelle Obama is a fan of this line? Sadly, the store has been going through a lot of problems. Its sales have gone down in the past few years, which is why it plans to shut down its bridal store. It also had to say goodbye to its creative director, Jenna Lyons. According to former CEO Mickey Drexler, the company has been in hot water thanks to higher prices.
J. Crew
99 Cents Only
99 Cents Only is a company that offers discounts on various items. It is a competitor of Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Walmart. In December 2017, the retailer reported that it suffered a net loss of $27.1 million on top of the $42.4 million loss that it incurred during the first two quarters of the year. It was eventually purchased by Ares Management and then by Canada Pension Plan until it finally came under the possession of a private family. Jack Sinclair, its new CEO, reported positive same-store sales. Sadly, this was not enough to help improve things for 99 Cents Only.
99 Cents Only
GNC
GNC is in the business of selling nutrition and health products. Even though there are more people interested in fitness, the company still saw a decline of 3.4% in its gross revenue for 2017. It has billions of dollars in debt and suffered a decline in top-line sales and profits, which made it focus on other tactics. It has a strong Chinese market and e-commerce site, which is the reason the company sold 40% of its shares to a pharma company in China that will promote, sell, produce, and distribute its products.
GNC
Fred’s Pharmacy
Fred’s Pharmacy tried to bring up its stores in the United States from 600 to 1,000. Sadly, this did not end up happening. It saw a decline of 4.3% in its gross sales from the previous fiscal year. The bottom line was also reported to be $139.3 million. The CFO of the company left in 2018 and got replaced by a media executive. After that, the pharma company ended up putting CVS on the market for $40 million.
Fred’s Pharmacy
Stein Mart
Stein Mart is a discount department store based in Jacksonville. It has not been faring very well lately. Even though the company balanced its sales and saw a 47% increase in digital revenue in 2017, the company reported a bottom-line loss of $23.4 million. We sure hope that they get things in order soon.
Stein Mart
Office Depot
Office Depot is a popular office supplier that saw a decline of 7% to $10.2 billion last 2017. CEO Gerry Smith said that it will begin offering services instead of focusing on its retail sales. This move already improved the top line of the company! It is now offering a business-to-business service known as BizBox.
Office Depot
Vitamin Shoppe
Vitamin Shoppe is suffering similar problems that GNC has. It also decided to focus on e-commerce and offer a subscription service to improve the situation. However, its top-line sales of $1.2 billion saw a decline of 8.5% in 2017. This had something to do with the decreasing popularity of shopping malls and the increase in competing shops. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the company will be able to pull through with its plans to expand categories, offer delivery services, and launch marketing events.
Vitamin Shoppe
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus is a big luxury retailer. In 2017, the company saw a decrease of 5% to its top-line sales of $4.7 billion. Some strategy suggestions were to slash 200 jobs and focus on “Digital First,” a customer engagement plan. A Canadian company called Hudson’s Bay was interested in acquiring the high-end store, but this did not end up happening.
Neiman Marcus
Bebe
Bebe has been suffering a decline in sales ever since 2007. This was the year that creative director Neda Mashouf quit and divorced founder Manny Mashouf. The company was launched in 1979, but it has been suffering from the decline in the popularity of shopping malls as well. In 2018, it had an operating loss of $4.6 million. The retailer paid out $65 million to shut down stores to focus on online sales.
Bebe
Pier 1 Imports
During the first quarter of 2018, this company experienced a 9.2% decline in its net sales of $371.9 million year-to-year. As if this was not a big enough predicament, Pier 1 Imports also suffered a credit rating downgrade from S&P Global analysts. Lastly, the company also took a hit when President Trump placed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. After all, over half of its products come from there!
Pier 1
Lands’ End
Land’s End is best known for selling luggage, clothing, and home furnishings. Sadly, it is no longer as big as it used to be. Some would say that its problems came about thanks to its association with Sears. Even though it has strong catalog item sales, CEO Federica Marchionni made some bad calls in the past.
Lands’ End
Guitar Center
It is pretty impressive to hear that Guitar Center has been in business for more than 50 years already. However, this guitar supplier has been going through some problems. It only had one year to pay off its debt of $900 billion as a result of its 36% decline in sales from 2005 all the way to 2016. Despite this, it is still planning to launch new stores. According to the Executive Vice President of Merchandising and E-Commerce, the company is still going strong but going through a transition state.
Guitar Center
Nine West
Nine West is a shoe retailer that is trying to restructure its debt by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and selling off its parts. It needs to pay off a $1.5 billion debt. Not only did it shut down 25 stores, but it also decided to let go of its Easy Spirit brand. The company also plans to focus less on shoes and more on jewelry and clothing brands such as One Jeanswear Group, Anne Klein, and Kasper Grouper.
Nine West
David’s Bridal
Who would have ever thought that people would get tired of fancy gowns and pricey weddings? It looks like more brides are opting for more casual dresses and more economical ceremonies. This is terrible news for David’s Bridal, which has been suffering a rapid sales decline. Aside from that, it needs to pay off a loan of $520 million and then $270 million in unsecured notes by 2020.
David’s Bridal
Bon-Ton
Bon-Ton is an online retailer and department store has been in business for a century until it had no choice but to close. The store went on to file for bankruptcy in 2018 before it was sold and liquidated. Before the year ended, however, it reopened its e-commerce site and relaunched several stores. Their success was rooted in operating in small towns and no competition. Amazon put a stop to this!
Bon-Ton
Tops Market
Tops Markets is a grocery chain that operates on the East Coast. A company usually files for bankruptcy when it failed to keep up with the changing interests and preferences. This was the fate of the company. Even though it filed for bankruptcy protection, those living in Vermont, New York, and Pennsylvania can still drop by one since the majority of locations in the aforementioned states is here to stay.
Tops
Cole Haan
Cole Haan is a luxury footwear retailer that used to be owned by Nike. USA Today said that it was at risk back in 2018. The company tried to change its focus by shifting from dress shoes to more athletic shoes. However, this ended up backfiring on it! Apax Partners purchased the footwear line in 2013, which meant that Cole Haan could no longer use the comfort technology of its former parent company.
Cole Haan
Claire’s
Claire’s is an accessories store that was first opened in 1961. Many women in the United States have fond memories of this store. In 2018, the company decided to cease IPOP and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It shut down more than 130 stores by May 2018. The rest went to investors and potential buyers.
Claire’s
FullBeauty Brands Holdings Corp
FullBeauty Brands Holding Corp. is the parent company of several plus-size men and women’s clothing stores such as Jessica London, Brylane Home, Woman Within, Roaman’s, KingSize, fullbeauty.com, and ellos. The conglomerate has laid the blame on Amazon for its declining sales. It saw a 30% revenue drop during the first quarter of 2017. We really hope that its new executive lineup can improve things.
FullBeauty
Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer is a Bellevue-based outdoor company that bounced back from its 2009 bankruptcy. However, the future looks uncertain for the retailer. S&P Global even downgraded its credit ranking when it failed to keep up with the trends. It is probably going to merge with Pacific Sunwear or PacSun!
Eddie Bauer
Bluestem Brands
Bluestem Brands is best known for selling beauty, apparel, appliance, health products, and electronics. It has been dubbed an at-risk company. The retailer owns 13 e-commerce sites such as Fingerhut, Draper’s & Damon’s, Blair, Gettingon.com, Bedford, Fair, and Appleseed’s. We hope that things improve for it!
Bluestem
PetSmart Inc.
PetSmart Inc. is a pet product retailer that boasts more than 1,500 stores across Canada, the United States, and Puerto Rico. It has a debt of $8 million, which can be attributed to the rise of e-commerce sites like Amazon. It recently invested in Chewy, its own e-commerce site. However, we are sure that the $3.35 billion price only made its debt go up more! This is the most expensive e-commerce site ever.
PetSmart
BKH Acquisition Corp.
BKH Acquisition Corp. heads the operation of more than a hundred Burger King locations in Puerto Rico. It is terrible to hear that the company has been added to the Distressed Company Alert list. The current problems come from the country’s economic weakness, as well as its ongoing credit problems.
BKH Acquisition Corp.
Mattress Firm
Mattress Firm is the choice mattress retailer of many people. Sadly, the company applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection thanks to an accounting issue. The company said that it will sell 700 of its stores, a fifth of the total 3,500. It hopes to terminate unnecessary leases to restructure the company.
Mattress Firm
National Stores
National Stores is the company in charge of brands such as Fallas, Anna’s Linens, and Conway. Recently, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This means that operations in 74 locations across the United States and Puerto Rico will stop. It took on too many brands, which meant a lot of debt.
National Stores
H&M
It is possible that H&M will no longer be a mall staple after this year. The retail giant plans to shut down 160 locations over the course of the year in the name of business optimization. This decision was made because the company was struggling in the American market. However, the good news is that it is seeing steady growth abroad. With this said, the company still plans to open 355 stores in 2020. It makes sense that the locations are going to be primarily outside of both Europe and the United States.
H&M