15,000 Stores are Set to Close This Year

A new report estimates that roughly 15,000 US retail stores are set to close this year — a record for modern times — which could reshape how people shop for typical consumer goods.

Why It Hurts: The dual forces of a rollercoaster post-pandemic economy and a major shift to ecommerce have upended the business models of many tried-and-true brands, who now see scaling down as the only path to survival… let alone profits.

Behind the Liquidations: Coresight Research is feeling a little bleak about the state of brick-and-mortar retailers that seemed unstoppable a decade ago.

• The report found that 15,000 American retail locations are set to close, while only 5,800 are expected to open — leading to a loss of 9,200 stores.
• That’s a 50% increase from store closures in 2020, which, as you definitely remember, was when COVID upended everything… including people going to stores. It’s also staggeringly more than the net loss of 1,355 stores in 2024.
• Nearly 2,000 closures have already occurred, driven by the fall of retail giants like Party City and Big Lots and the major shrinkage of Walgreens and 7-Eleven.
• Still, retail sales are actually expected to increase by 3.3% this year, while ecommerce sales leapfrog it with an 8.3% increase.

Final Sale: So, what’s driving all the soon-to-be liquidation sales? Other than the belt-tightening across America on larger consumer goods like TVs and appliances, it’s mostly the internetization of being able to purchase any item, no matter how small.

Coresight writes that the popularity of Temu and Shein has upended low-cost apparel and home goods brands, which can’t compete with the virality of items and cheap delivery. As social shopping takes more market share in the coming years (especially if TikTok remains in the US), expect store closures to only multiply… and create a very different kind of mall atmosphere.