Online shopping has taken over our lives. We don’t want to leave the house to buy things because we can have them delivered right to our doors. On account of our laziness, and changes since the Covid-19 pandemic, brick and mortar stores are suffering. Will your favorite store see it through 2023? Let’s find out…
1. Pier 1 Imports
Pier 1 Imports used to be the perfect place to go if you were planning on re-designing your home or throwing a BBQ. However, those days are long gone. in 2020 they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, and in 2021 they announced that they would be closing all of their stores. A tough year for any DIY enthusiasts.
2. Family Dollar
Dollar stores never have anything for just a dollar now, we all know that. Family Dollar tried this trick, and although their prices rose, they still aren’t able to stay afloat in 2023’s market. As of this year they have closed 200 of their store and plan to make this a further 390 within the next few years.
3. Lowe’s
As of May 2020, the popular home improvement and garden store has shut down 51 underperforming stores – 20 in America and 31 in Canada. The company made these plans in 2018 after the J.C Penney CEO bought over the Lowe’s franchise. However, J.C Penney might not be all in the clear either. More on that later.
4. Kohl’s
Kohl’s, unfortunately, doesn’t know where it stands in the department store market. it’s too expensive to act as a discounted/outlet store, and it’s not exclusive enough to be marketed as a luxury store. Because of this, it is closing it’s stores inside malls and opting for small stores that aren’t situated as close to each other.
5. J.C Penney
J.C. Penney has been the cornerstone of every mall in America for decades. However, its sales have fallen sharply due to online shopping trends and fierce competition with Amazon and cut-price retailers. Even worse, the brand filed for bankruptcy protection in mid-May and declared that it would close 242 of its stores within two years.
6. Olive Garden
Olive Garden was hit hard by the pandemic and has struggled to recover. Some restaurants are downsizing, while some have to close their doors for good. Olive Garden, the famous Italian casual-dining chain that opened in 1982, is trying to cut costs and closing down its unprofitable restaurants.
7. The Cheesecake Factory
What? No more cheesecake slices the size of your head? 2023 seems like it’ll be a tough year for The Cheesecake Factory, despite being one of the most popular sit-down restaurant chains in America. Since the beginning of the year, it has closed 27 locations because of low order traffic and cash flow.
8. J. Crew
You may have learned that J. Crew filed for bankruptcy a few years ago. The company lost its CEO in 2018, kicked off 2019 by closing six stores, and entered 2020 with a whopping $1.7 billion of debt. There reportedly will be a restructuring process coming, and in the meantime, you can still shop there.
9. Tesla
Elon Musk seems to be taking over the world at the minute, so you may be surprised to hear that his car company, Tesla, is closing almost all of it’s stores in 2023. They will keep a few as ‘galleries’ but have opted for a thoroughly modern approach with no need for physical stores.
10. Golden Corral
We’ve all just gone through a wild pandemic that changed our way of thinking about everything, particularly, germs. If we didn’t already worry about strangers sneezing over our mac ‘n’ cheese, we definitely do now. The company was forced to shut down some of its locations and is trying to remodel the remaining ones to attract new customers.
11. Dressbarn
Dressbarn has been selling women’s clothing for over 50 years. If you cast your mind back to the early 2000s, it probably seems like there was one of these stores on every street corner. Sadly, these times are in the past, and Dressbarn has announced that they will be closing all 6,800 of their stores gradually over the next few years.
12. Vera Bradley
A sad day for handbag lovers, however, not all is lost. Although Vera Bradley has closed all of it’s regular stores, they have pledged to keep the doors of their outlet stores open and to continue selling their products in Bed, Bath and Beyond. Although, as you’ll see later on in the list, they’re doomed too…
13. Hertz
Sadly, Hertz filed for bankruptcy after a century in the car rental and leasing business. The company was reportedly saddled with 700,00 unused cars and a $19 billion debt. While its CEO directed the blame at the pandemic, most experts claimed it was due to the brand’s business model and failure to catch up with the new trends.
14. GameStop
GameStop admitted in March that it had closed 333 stores and opened 12 new ones in fiscal 2019. The company is now picking off locations that are believed to be too close to one another and that aren’t helping sales. Online game sales tend to be more popular as there is no need for physical game discs nowadays.
15. Banana Republic
After it’s parent company Gap got into some trouble, Banana Republic followed suit. Although this used to be the place that you could get the latest threads, it’s fallen into obscurity as online fashion giants start to take the forefront. They closed over 500 stores in 2022 and think it will go up to nearly 900 by the end of 2023.
16. Macy’s
Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette has made the shocking announcement that the company will close 125 stores over the next three years. In fact, 28 stores have already gone dark following the holiday shopping season. The giant retailer will focus more on healthy parts of its business, while at the same time try to open smaller stores in strip shopping centers.
17. Bath & Body Works
What? No more ridiculously specific scented candles? How will we even know it’s Christmas if a waft of cinnamon doesn’t hit us in the face every time we step into the mall? You may need to stock up on those Black Cherry Merlot body lotions and Champagne Toast shower gels, as Bath & Body Works is planning to close 50 U.S. stores in 2023.
18. Chico’s
All is not lost for Chico’s. Although they are closing 250 of their stores this year, they still have 1,500 stores open across the US and Canada. On top of this, they have revealed that they will be using popular marketplace, Amazon, to help sell their clothes and accessories.
19. Children’s Place
Another company that’s giving in to the online shopping surge. This once used to be the go-to place for budget children’s clothes and toys, however, they’re not doing so good in 2023. They’re closing 300 underperforming stores. It turned out the closures had already begun in 2018.
20. Topshop
When Topshop made its debut in America in 2009, it instantaneously became a fashion favorite, even with celebrities like Kate Moss and Jay-Z. However, recently, the brand has made a dramatic exit and has closed all of its 11 stores across the country. This is because its parent company, Arcadia Group, went bankrupt due to the highly competitive online shopping.
21. Starbucks
You might think that there’s no way that Starbucks could ever have money problems, considering that they charge almost $5 for a plain coffee. However, about 150 of Starbucks’ underperforming stores are going to close down for good. The company has announced that the closures will happen in big cities where there are about 5 Starbucks on every corner.
22. Applebee’s
This one will hit any riblet fans hard. Though Applebee’s tried to update its menu to attract new customers, people, particularly millennials, don’t seem to like reheated food as before. In the last two years, the brand shut down more than 120 locations, and more stores are expected to close this year.
23. Gap
A good solid clothing brand that we’ve all had on at some point in our lives. Gap Inc. has decided to shutter nearly half of its stores by 2023 after a dismal 2018 holiday season. However, it’s sister company Old Navy is thriving, and intends to open hundreds of new stores across the country.
24. Victoria’s Secret
The retailer specializing in lingerie and womenswear shut down 30 stores in 2018, with more closures on the cards this year. Moreover, L Brand, its parent company, has announced to close 53 more stores, putting the closure rate to 4%. They still seem to have a store in every small-town mall, though.
25. Bar Louie
Since last year, Bar Louie has been shutting down stores like crazy across the country because of a quick expansion. With over $100 million in debt, the chain filed for bankruptcy and scrapped 28 of its 134 remaining stores. Seems that they bit off more than they could chew, pardon the pun…
26. H&M
The fast-fashion giant announced the closure of 160 American stores this year, while its business abroad has been steadily growing. Furthermore, it plans to open 355 more stores with its focus being shifted to foreign markets. It seems that although H&M is popular in Europe, it’s a big fish in a small pond here in the US.
27. Sears
The iconic chain that innovated the mail-order catalog has signaled the end for 89 locations. Though the company survived bankruptcy in 2019, it is not as strong as it used to be. Mail order just isn’t what it used to be, we’d all just rather use Amazon Prime…
28. Chipotle
Although they do a good burrito, we have to ask ourselves, at what cost? Chipotle’s reputation was damaged after there were several reports of food poisoning. On top of this, they were reported to have breached a child labor violation. They did try to change their menu to entice customers back, but have closed 186 stores this year.
29. Sbarro
Sbarro has been one of the most popular pizza stores over the past two decades. However, the company has seen a drastic drop in sales after its food quality decreased. Last year, it closed more than 200 stores, including its historic Times Square location. A sad day for The Ninja Turtles.
30. Forever 21
Forever 21 will forever be in the hearts of every teenager who went to the mall every Saturday and spent all of their allowance on whatever cool slogan tee this store was selling. However, gone are the days of Forever 21’s influence on teenage girls as online fast-fashion takes over. They planned to close 350 stores globally, and 178 of them are located in the US. In fact, the closures started early this year.
31. Bed, Bath & Beyond
Gone but never forgotten, you always did the best value bed sheets. Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores for good on June 30. The brand is set to live on in digital form, so not all is lost. Including all of it’s franchises, the company will close a whopping 896 stores.
32. Foot Locker
Foot Locker said in March that it would close as many as 420 stores by 2026 in shopping malls as part of a plan meant to “reset” the company, as well as 125 Champs Sports locations. It also said it aimed to open more than 300 “new concept” stores in the same period, including locations outside malls.
33. Tuesday Morning
It’s one of the worst Tuesday mornings that these guys have had in a while… The Dallas-based home goods company said on April 29 that it was shutting down all of its stores. The news came after the company said in February that it planned to close more than half of its stores amid bankruptcy proceedings.
34. CVS
A lot like the rest of our world, our drug stores are going online too. CVS announced that by 2024 they will have closed 900 of their stores. This is now the second year of a three-year plan from the company as they analyzed business patterns and have decided that, post-covid, people would rather have these things delivered to their door.
35. Rite Aid
The pharmacy chain Rite Aid has released a list of 154 locations it’s closing as it navigates bankruptcy proceedings. The closing stores are spread throughout the US but concentrated in California as well as Northeastern states, including New York and Pennsylvania.
36. Walgreens
Everybody loves a Walgreens… However, they plan to close 150 stores in the US and 300 in the United Kingdom, the company disclosed in its third-quarter earnings call. The chain operates roughly 9,000 US stores and did not specify which locations would close.
37. Amazon
Amazon seems like it is taking over the world more and more each day, however, they are closing their physical stores. Nine of it’s ‘Go” locations, mainly in New York, will be closed as the company reevaluates it’s physical store strategy. Who needs to go out to the stores nowadays anway?
38. Target
Everyone’s favorite place to go into for one thing and come out having spent $100. Target announced that they would be closing stores in New York, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle due to the high rates of theft and organized retail crime. Some people just have to ruin it for the rest of us, eh?
39. Best Buy
Best Buy, the electronics giant, said that it plans to close 20 to 30 stores in 2023 in favor of smaller outlet stores and online sales. Typically though, this company closes stores and re-opens in different locations frequently due to leases so don’t worry too much!
40. Party City
If you’re having a birthday party, you better get down to your local Party City quickly. After announcing 22 store closures in February, Party City announced a further nine stores would close in April. This is certainly a bit of a party pooper.