Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Retail Inferno: 12,000 US Stores Are Forecast To Close In 2019

The retail inferno is escalating in 2019.
According to Coresight Research,  in the US, year-to-date announced closures have already exceeded the total we recorded for the full year 2018. Coresight Research estimates announced US store closures could reach 12,000 by the end of 2019.
So far this year, US retailers have announced 7,062 store closures and 3,017 store openings. This compares to 5,864 closures and 3,258 openings for the full year 2018.
Here is Coresight’s complete list of store closures so far for this year:
Payless ShoeSource: 2,589 (includes 248 Canada locations and 114 smaller-format stores in Shopko Hometown locations).
Gymboree/Crazy 8: 749
Dressbarn: 649. Here are the locations that closed in June and closing in July.
Charlotte Russe: 494; but the company’s new owner is opening new stores.
Shopko: 371
Charming Charlie: 261
LifeWay Christian Resources: 170
Topshop: All 11 U.S. stores
Henri Bendel: 23
E.L.F. Beauty: 22
Here are more announced closures that could roll into 2020:
Family Dollar: As many as 390 stores
Fred’s: 442; the company said it would close another 129 stores with going-out-of-business sales beginning Friday.
Chico’s: 74, but 250 over the next three years.
GNC: 233
Gap: Roughly 230 in next two years
Walgreens: 195
Foot Locker: 165, total includes closings outside of the U.S.
Signet Jewelers: The parent company of Kay, Zales and Jared said it would close another 150 stores.
Pier 1 Imports: 57, but up to 145 could close.
Ascena Retail: 120
Destination Maternity: 117
Sears: 72
Victoria’s Secret: 53
Vera Bradley: 50
Office Depot: 50
Kmart: 48
CVS: 46
Party City: 45
Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores: 45
The Children’s Place: Up to 45
Z Gallerie: 44
DKNY: 41
Stage Stores: 40 to 60
Bed Bath & Beyond: 40
Abercrombie & Fitch: 40
Francesca’s: At least 30 stores
Build-A-Bear: Up to 30 over two years
Williams-Sonoma: 30
J.C. Penney: 27
Bath & Body Works: 24
Southeastern Grocers: 22
Saks Off 5th: 20
Lowe’s: 20
J. Crew: 20
Macy’s: 8
Nordstrom: 7
Target: 6
J.Crew: 5
Kohl’s: 4
Whole Foods: 1
Calvin Klein: 1
Pottery Barn: 1
Now, that is a lot of retail store closings! Hopefully, The Fed doesn’t adopt the practice of buying failing retail stores to prop-up REITs and CMBS.

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