Popular Stores That Are Partially And Fully Closing In 2020
It's never fun watching our favorite stores close, sadly, that's often the case as the retail space continues to evolve and new competitors cause older, more established, stores to fail. 2020 is especially painful as many people have stayed home for months under state orders. Some of these stores were already on their way out while others suddenly faced rapidly declining sales.
Below is a list of stores that are either fully or partially closing down locations in 2020.
Pier 1 Imports Is Closing More Than Half Its Stores
Pier 1 has announced plans to shutter 450 stores in 2020. The company currently operates about 950 stores. The closure means more than half the company will be closed down and approximately 4,000 employees will need to seek new employment.
As part of its restructuring, Pier 1 will cut corporate jobs and shut down some of its distribution centers as well. The company has struggled for years as companies such as Etsy continue to take away business that operates in the same space as the specialty retailer.
Victoria's Secret Is Closing 251 Stores In The US And Canada
Victoria's Secret has been struggling to remain relevant as competitors such as Arie continue to target women of different shapes and sizes. The company, owned by L Brands, has announced plans to shut down 251 stores in Canada and the United States.
The company says 238 store closures will come from locations in the United States with the remaining 13 stores in Canada. We expect more closures in the future as the company continues to ignore large segments of potential buyers.
Gap Will Continue Shutting Down Locations
In 2019 Gap announced plans to shutter 230 stores over a two year period. The company started phasing out locations in February 2019 and will continue closing stores well into 2020. Gap closed approximately 130 locations in fiscal 2019.
There is some good news for the company, it's Old Navy and Athleta retail stores are thriving and opening new locations throughout the country. We don't expect Gap to disappear anytime soon but it will emerge as a much more lean company in the coming years.
Walgreens Is Closing Shop At Many Locations
This isn't a surprise if you've been following news from Walgreens. The company announced in 2019 that it would close 200 additional locations in the United States. The company hasn't announced when those closures would occur but said it was an attempt to cut costs at lower-performing locations.
The cuts don't seem so bad until you realize the company had already announced plans to shut down 750 US stores by the end of the 2020 calendar year.
Forever 21 Is Shrinking Globally
Forever 21 has fallen on hard times and in September 2019 the company announced it had filed for Chapter 21 bankruptcy. While the company will emerge from its financial troubles, it will be a smaller more nimble operation.
178 locations will close down in the United States with many of those stores already closed in the first half of 2020. Globally, the company will shut down 350 locations. It's still not known how the company will fare with early 2020 retail numbers declining.
Macy's Closures Will Continue To Shrink In 2020
Let's be honest, it wouldn't be a normal year if Macy's didn't announce that it was closing down locations. The company is closing 125 stores over the next three years and will layoff many of its corporate employees as the retailer continues to struggle.
The company hasn't said how many stores it's closing in 2020 but it likely means trouble for many malls that have long used the company's locations as anchor stores to draw in customers.
Chico's Is Saying Goodbye To 200 Stores
The Chico's closures affect its various brands including 100 Chico's stores alongside 90 of the company's White House Black Market locations and 60 Soma stores.
While that's a pretty big chunk of the company's holdings, it doesn't expect the closures to happen all at once. Instead, the company is phasing out underperforming locations over the next three years. In 2019 the company closed 49 stores which means another 200 closures are on the way by 2022. Given the current retail climate, the company may end up accelerating some of its closures.
16 Hallmark Locations Are Done In 2020
Sixteen Hallmark-branded stores will be closing down in 2020 and more may soon follow. The company has found it difficult to maintain in-store locations as social media continues to hamper the greeting cards business.
The company sells Hallmark cards in various other locations such as Target stores, and will likely continue to close more locations as it focuses on other avenues for distributing its various items including its popular line of Christmas tree decorations.
Sears Continues Its March Towards Total Meltdown In 2020
The slow death of Sears continues in 2020 with a total of 51 sears stores. The company's combined locations will total just 182 locations between its Sears and Kmart owned locations once it emerges from this recent list of closures.
With a refusal to update aging stores and inventory problems caused by a lack of caring, we don't expect to see Sears or the Kmart brands in the coming years.
Kmart Is Closing Many Of Its Locations In 2020
Forty-five Kmart locations are calling it quits in 2020. We're not really surprised by this move. The company has lost many of its branded partnerships in recent years and has failed to update most of its locations.
Kmart, under the same management as Sears stores, has been in a downward spiral for more than a decade. With real estate worth more than the actual stores they populate, we expect to see a continued downward spiral for Kmart in the next few years.
Destination Maternity Has Already Filed For Bankruptcy Protection
Destination Maternity filed for bankruptcy in October and said it will shut down 183 stores while restructuring to focus on higher-performing locations. Some of the company's closures have already occurred with more locations closing in 2020.
Destination Maternity, which also owns the Motherhood Maternity, is currently closing locations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Like other companies on our list, it will emerge as a more lean operation when the closures are finalized.
Bath & Body Works Is Another L Brands Casualty In 2020
We already reported on the closure of Victoria's Secret stores and that's not the only struggling retailer for parent company L Brands. The company has announced plans to close 50 Bath & Body Works locations.
All of the closures planned for 2020 are located in the United States. The specialty maker of lotions, candles, and other similar items announced the closures in May with plans for the locations to leave their current spots before the end of the year.
JCPenney Filed For Bankruptcy In May 2020
J.C. Penney has been struggling for years and on May 15, 2020, the company announced it had filed for bankruptcy protection. As part of the company's restructuring, J.C. Penney plans to shut down nearly 30% of its stores.
The 118-year-old retailer plans to close 192 locations in 2020 and an additional 50 stores in 2021. The company currently operates 846 stores with 242 closed by the end of 2021. We don't expect the company to disappear completely as its other stores are the best performing and most profitable in the company's network of retail locations.
Modell's Is Closing All Of Its Stores
While most of the stores on our list are emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with few stories that perform, Modell's is not so lucky. The company says it will close down all 153 stores.
Even before heading into the unexpected troubles we have all faced in 2020, Modell's was struggling to stay in business. The company's filing in March 2020 isn't a surprise and soon the company, which was founded in 1889, will be no more.
Nordstrom Is Closing 16 Department Stores In 2020
Nordstrom is targeting 16 of its full-line department stores for closure in 2020. The company has announced specific states that will feel the pinch. States seeing closures include Texas, Oregon, Maryland, New Jersey, Colorado, and Florida.
The company is also closing stores in Puerto Rico. At the end of the day, the company will lose nearly 15% of its full-line locations. The company's parent will also shut down three Jeffrey boutiques.
Bed, Bath & Beyond Is Closing 44 Stores In 2020
Bed, Bath & Beyond will close down 44 locations in 2020. The company announced in January that 40 stores would be closed in the current fiscal year which ended in April. It then announced plans to close another 20 locations before the end of fiscal 2020.
Sixteen Bed, Bath & Beyond stores were already closed in January 2020 as the company has accelerated its plans to emerge as a much more lean company. The company has also struggled with its World Market, Christmas Tree Shops, one Kings Lane, and buybuy Baby stores.
GameStop Will Continue Shrinking In 2020
If you were in the market for a new or used video game in recent years your best bet was visiting a GameStop location. However, a changing market has led to declining sales for the company. In 2019 Gamestop closed down 333 stores while opening just 12 new locations.
2020 isn't looking very good for the company. Executives plan to close at least 320 locations. The closures are arriving despite the fact that gaming has increased as many people remain homebound.
A.C. Moore Will No Longer Exist After 2020
A.C. Moore is another victim of a changing retail landscape. In 2020 the company will shut down all 145 of its stores.
A.C. Moore is owned by Nicole Crafts, the same company behind the popular Michaels stores. Nicole Crafts says 40 of the 145 store closures will be converted into Michael's stores. The company announced the closures in November 2019 but didn't place a timeline on when each of its stores would be permanently closed down or converted.
Art Van Furniture Is Closing Company Owned Stores
Art Van Furniture is another victim of 2020. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March and said it would close all of its company-owned stores. The company is also closing eight Wolf Furniture stores.
The company owns 169 stores and plans to sell 44 of its locations. The exact date of closures has not been announced by location. The company plans to work quickly in 2020 to create a more lean operation as soon as possible.
Bose Will Close All Of Its US Stores
Bose may be a popular audio equipment provider but its retail stores have struggled and the company plans to close 119 stores globally in 2020.
Among the company's closures will be all of its US-based retail locations. The company will continue to maintain its relationships with major brick-and-mortar and e-commerce companies while operating without the headaches of a constantly changing retail landscape. We're honestly not shocked that a specialty retailer is struggling in today's retail climate.
Express Will Rapidly Shrink In 2020
In January 2020 the team at Expressed announced that it would close about 25% of its stores. The 100 closures will occur in stages ending in 2020. Nine of the closures occurred in 2019 with a handful expected in 2020.
With 35 stores expected to close between January 2020 and January 2021, we can expect a few more closures this year. With current market conditions, it's not known if the company will accelerate its plans for 2020 store closures.
Neiman Marcus Is Shutting Down 20 Locations In 2020
Neiman Marcus is closing down 22 off-price Last Call stores which the company owns. The closures do not affect the company's namesake locations at this time.
The company says it will leave open a select number of stores to serve as locations for selling "residual" Neiman Marcus inventory. The company hasn't announced when the stores will close or which locations will remain open to serve the "residual" inventory coming from its flagship stores.
