Increasing online sales year after year has resulted in a steady decline of brick and mortar locations for many retailers. While this year's Cyber Monday sales hit record highs, according to the Washington Post, in-store visits declined by 1.6 percent over last year. As a result, below are 20 of the biggest retailers who will be closing locations before the end of 2017:
Clothing Retailers
- Abercrombie & Fitch
The speciality clothing retailer for tweens, teens and young adults has closed hundreds of locations in the past few years. They have announced another 60 locations will close in 2017.
- American Apparel
Once considered an edgy clothing retailer due to their envelope-pushing ad campaigns, American Apparel filed for bankruptcy in 2017. This resulted in all 110 of their retail locations closing their doors.
- BCBG
Based in Los Angeles, the clothier filed for bankruptcy in February 2017 and closed over 110 stores. However, through a company-reorganization, 300 stores remain open.
- Bebe
This women's apparel brand closed all 168 of its stores in May 2017.
- Guess
They have announced that 60 of its U.S. locations will close as the company focuses more attention on consumer markets.
- J. Crew
The once preppy clothing brand announced 50 of its stores would close in 2017.
- J.C. Penney
This department store will restructure its business to more closely align with shifting consumer tastes. It will close 138 of its locations.
- The Limited
A specialty clothing retailer, The Limited had a particularly difficult 2016 holiday season. This resulted in closing all 250 of its retail locations and a loss of more than 4,000 jobs.
- Macy's
While only closing 68 of its retail locations, this will supposedly result in the loss of thousands of jobs.
- Michael Kors
The high-end clothing brand will close 125 stores to better adapt to a changing retail landscape.
- Rue21
After closing 400 of its 1,100 retail locations, the teen clothing retailer then filed for bankruptcy in May.
- Sears/Kmart
The once ubiquitous department store and discount chain has suffered from a changing e-commerce retail landscape. The company has closed 35 Kmart locations and 8 Sears stores and has plans to close over 300 more.
- Wet Seal
Another teen clothing retailer, Wet Seal filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and closed all of its 171 stores in 2017.
Specialty Retailers
- Aerosoles
A New Jersey-based shoe company, Aerosoles filed for bankruptcy in September 2017. It is unclear how many of its 88 retail locations will be affected.
- The Children's Place
Once a mall staple, The Children's Place will adjust its business model to focus on ecommerce. This will result in hundreds of store closures by 2020.
- CVS
The pharmacy retailer is slated to close 70 locations.
- Gymboree
Another children's clothing retailer plans to close 350 of its 1,200 locations.
- H.H. Gregg
Unable to find a buyer once it filed for bankruptcy, the electronics retailer will close all of its 220 stores.
- Payless
The shoe retailer will close 800 stores this year and filed for bankruptcy in April 2017.
- RadioShack
Only 70 retail locations remain after another 1,000 were closed in 2017.
- Toys R Us
One of the last remaining independent toy store chains, Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in September. However, it has said its 1,600 retail locations will remain open and operate as normal.
There are advantages and disadvantages to shopping purely online. The convenience factor is certainly an advantage; while the inability to touch and feel the product prior to purchase is a challenge. Perhaps the biggest challenge, however, is the loss of local jobs associated with closing retail stores. Whether you're part of a brick-and-mortar location or own an online retail store, you'll need robust digital marketing efforts to keep the business healthy. Energyhill is committed to working with clients in all aspects of advertising, design, and video promotion. For more information about our work and how we can help your business, please contact us today.
