Following a raft of stores closures in 2024, retail advisory firm Coresight Research predicts that closures will escalate further this year, to approximately 15,000. Store openings are expected to remain steady at approximately 5,800 (compared to 5,970 in 2024), but that would still represent a net loss of more than 9,000 stores.
Supporting these expectations is the fact that more than 2,000 planned closures already are underway this year. Coresight reports that major U.S. retailers have announced 29.6% fewer openings and 334.3% more closures when compared to the year-ago period (as of Jan. 17, 2025). Adding to these elevated numbers are the series of closures that were announced late in 2024 and this year by Party City, Big Lots, Kohl’s and Macy’s.
In 2024, U.S. store closures totaled 7,325, the highest number since 2020, when Coresight tracked almost 10,000 closures. When set against store openings, 2024 saw a net loss of 1,355 stores.
“Inflation and a growing preference among consumers to shop online to find the cheapest deals took a toll on brick-and-mortar retailers in 2024,” said Deborah Weinswig, CEO of Coresight Research in a statement. “Retailers that were unable to adapt supply chains and implement technology to cut costs were significantly impacted, and we continue to see a trend of consumers opting for the path of least resistance. Not only do they want the best prices, but they also have no patience for stores that are constantly disorganized, out of stock and that deliver poor customer service.
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“We have seen Shein and Temu capture market share as consumers choose to shop online to save time, money and avoid frustration,” Weinswig added. “Retailers need to embrace technologies like artificial intelligence to deliver a better customer experience and to optimize pricing to remain relevant and avoid ongoing closures.”
The closures this year will fall into three categories, according to Coresight, including:
- Liquidations resulting in all stores closing, as with Party City;
- Distressed retailers closing large swathes of stores, often under Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, as with Big Lots; and
- Legacy retailers reshaping their store footprints due to a “changed retail context,” as with Kohl’s and Macy’s.
