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Store closings for the year have outpaced store openings for the first time since 2020, with major brands such as Big Lots, Foot Locker, Rite Aid, Gap Inc, and Ulta Beauty closing locations by the hundreds. In a recent LinkedIn Post, Coresight Research shared that CVS and Walgreens will close an estimated 12.4 million square feet of retail space in the US in 2024. Why is this happening? And what can owners facing store closure do?
Store closings for the year have outpaced store openings for the first time since 2020
Although this article was originally written in response to the rising store closures of 2024, 2025 has fared no better. Major brands like Macy's, Family Dollar, JCPenney, Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Victoria's Secret, Sears, Foot Locker, 7 Eleven, Denny's, Best Buy, and Joann have joined the ranks of brands closing many or all of their stores, per MSN.
In January of 2025, Coresight Research estimated that approximately 15,000 stores would close in 2025. This was up from 7325 total closures in 2024, which was the highest we've seen since the pandemic. WWD has further analysis in their article.
In March, Forbes reported a potential for 334% increase in store closure, driven by a drop in consumer demand, shift to online purchasing, inflation, and pressures from investors. Of the 48 bankruptcies from 2024, 27 (56%) involved private equity firms.
In April, a post from Coresight Research shared that total store closures (including announced and actual closures) were nearing 5000. This is up 90% from their report for the same time in 2024.
In May, Coresight Research announced that while store closures in the UK are down 25%, closures in the US are up 56%.
Reporting on April of 2025, Coresight Research shared that despite the uncertainty, retail sales as a whole still grew by 5%, giving a hopeful silver lining to the otherwise grim statistics for brick and mortar store owners.
In the following paragraphs, we'll provide statistics and resources for store owners facing closure, and we want to let you know that Mid-America Store Fixtures is here to help.
As of Nov 8, 2024, 6481 stores had closed in 2024, with an increase of 336 closures from the week before. Conversely, 5363 stores had opened in 2024 as of Nov 8, with 30 openings occurring in the week prior, according to Fox Business. Store openings have continued with little change from 2023 (0.1% as of August 2024), while store closures are up by 31.4% (as of August 2024), as reported by MSN.
This increase in closures harkened back to the days before the pandemic, when retailers were closing thousands of stores yearly. Online shopping had been growing rapidly, accelerating from 6% of all retail goods in 2014 to 12% by the beginning of 2020 per CNN. By 2023, e-commerce had risen to over 15.6% of total retail sales, with forecasts from Statista calling for a rise to 20.6% by 2027.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused a spike in store closure, followed by what CNN calls the “sugar high” of stimulus check spending in 2021 and 2022. They argue that the “sugar high is over” and this rash of store closures is a natural fallout from the unexpected spike in ‘21 and ‘22. But there is more to it than that, stores are closing for a number of reasons.
One reason for the increase in closures is bankruptcy, with 45 retailers filing for bankruptcy in 2024 alone. In 2023, by comparison, only 25 retailers filed for bankruptcy.
Another reason we see closures increasing is the financial pressure on the average consumer. Companies continue to raise prices beyond what consumers can afford, causing a decrease in discretionary and big-ticket item spending. Prices are still up around 20% from 2020, with high interest rates inflating debt payments. As a result, bankruptcy has made a sharp increase in companies that sell discretionary goods, with more than 80 discretionary goods companies closing through September—that's 27% more than in 2023.
This trend in consumer behavior continues through other industries. We are seeing closures in casual dining chains like Red Lobster, which filed for bankruptcy, and Dennys, which announced it would close 150 restaurants in October. Consumers are choosing to eat at home or opt for cheaper fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle and fast-food chains like Chick-fil-A. Big box giants like Amazon, Costco, Walmart, and Home Depot continue to enhance the consumer shopping experience through investing in technological improvements that even medium-sized retailers are unable to match, according to CNN.
Finally, some brands are simply right-sizing, John Mercer, Coresight’s head of global research, shared that drugstore closures may fit into this category.
Retail is not dying but shifting. Brands that prioritize value, such as Aldi, are opening stores—with Aldi planning to open 800 new stores nationwide. Brands that offer the shopping experience consumers want to have, such as TJX (parent company of TJ Maxx, Homegoods, and Marshalls) are also opening stores (TJX will open 99 this year). Discount brands continue to open stores as well, such as Dollar Tree (165), Five Below (227), and Dollar General (754), according to MSN. 2025 statistics do record some discount brand stores closing locations, including the likes of Dollar General.
Retail is not dying but shifting.
At MASF, we sure hope your store or brand isn’t facing closure or bankruptcy. In cases where that is happening, there are several options available to store owners as they pursue the closure process.
If you need to turn your excess fixtures from a closed store into cash, MASF offers liquidation and auction services. We will come to you, helping you to liquidate product, and running auctions on your behalf.
If you own multiple brands, stores, or locations, or are looking at opening or reopening, you can harvest and reuse your own fixtures. That may sound daunting, but you won’t be doing it alone. The MASF team can help you harvest, package, and ship those fixtures to their new location.
Brands who decided not to close under-performing locations may right-size their assets in the coming year, making 2025 and beyond a more stable outlook for some corners of the retail sector. Brands who are closing stores, and who want to reuse their own fixtures in future store openings can work with MASF to harvest their fixtures, packing them and shipping them to a storage location or new store. Brands that do not have storage available can take advantage of our third party warehouses for future use.
So what’s the take-away from all this? If you’re a store owner facing closure, you’re not alone. We sincerely hope you don’t need to close—or only need to close a location or two—but if closures need to happen, MASF can help.
If you are a store owner facing closure, call one of our representatives today to learn about the services that MASF offers and how we can help you in the closure process.
