Macy’s to Close 37 Stores as the Retail Apocalypse Continues in 2021

On Tuesday, Macy’s announced would close 37 of its stores in an effort to regain profitability — and, as previously disclosed, will be closing 125 stores by 2023. The iconic department store is just one of many brands that have fallen victim to the so-called “retail apocalypse.”

The erasure of brick-and-mortar stores started with the advent of online shopping, with Amazon, in particular, dominating the retail sector. Now, with all of the store shutdowns induced by COVID-19, things have only gotten worse. In fact, a recent report from Coresight Research warned that as many as 25,000 stores could be closing — permanently — because of the pandemic.

To quantify the depth of the carnage, GOBankingRates conducted research in 2020 concerning which retailers have experienced a severe decline in sales and announced permanent store closings, along with which retailers are closing temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Some of the findings might surprise casual shoppers. For example, even before the full extent of the coronavirus pandemic was being felt, luxury retailer Neiman Marcus — which has since filed for Chapter 11 protection as well — indicated it was closing all 22 of its Last Call stores and laying off 500 workers. Numerous other famous retailers also dominated the list of pre-coronavirus store closures, including Macy’s, Gap and Victoria’s Secret.

There will, of course, be survivors; American consumers will always love to shop. But for other stores, the COVID-19 pandemic could not have hit at a worse time. With already weakening sales and store closings, enduring an extended economic shutdown could prove the death knell for some of our nation’s most storied retailers. To help keep them afloat, you might want to direct your shopping dollars toward stores you love so that they don’t end up gone forever.

Last updated: Jan. 8 2021

• How many stores are left: Approximately 9,900

CVS is trimming underperforming stores to improve its bottom line, but store closures currently amount only to fewer than 1% of the chain’s locations nationwide.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 9,300

Walgreens is in the midst of a program to trim expenses by $1.5 billion by its 2022 fiscal year. Store closures amount to less than 3% of existing stores.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 8,000

Family Dollar is the weak link in parent Dollar Tree’s portfolio. The company trimmed 390 underperforming stores in 2019.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 5,700

GameStop is the world’s largest game retailer, but perhaps it has gotten too big in terms of physical locations. The company has begun closing hundreds of locations and has indicated that number is set to increase.

• How many stores are left: 2,937

After buying Rite Aid for $4 billion, parent company Walgreens announced its intention to dramatically trim its retail store count. That number has blossomed to more than one-third of total Rite Aid locations.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 2,000

Online sales and social media are crushing venerable card retailer Hallmark to the point that one owner said the business is no longer “a viable” one.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 1,400

In 2016, Office Depot announced its plan to close about 300 stores. Slowing sales and underperforming locations continue to weigh on the company.

• How many stores are left: 1,373

The owner of White House Black Market, Soma and its namesake Chico’s brand, the company announced 250 store closures through 2022.

• How many stores are left: 1,128

The most famous lingerie brand in the world isn’t immune to the retail apocalypse, with “declining performance” resulting in 53 store closures in 2019. Its parent company, L Brands, had agreed to sell a majority of Victoria’s Secret to Sycamore Partners this year, but the pair mutually terminated the deal amid coronavirus-related business concerns.  The failed deal now leaves the brand’s future in doubt.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 1,100

The majority of Kohl’s stores are located outside of malls, which has helped the company survive the massive drawdown in mall traffic. Still, the company has been closing underperforming locations to help further insulate it.

• How many stores are left: 955

Despite booming digital sales during the pandemic — online profits grew 82% — Bed Bath & Beyond announced its plans on Wednesday to close 200 stores over the next two years. The company’s overall sales have fallen by nearly 50% since this time last year, and shares have tanked by 40% this year alone.

Of the news, chief executive Mark Tritton told CNBC, “We saw there were a number of stores dragging us down. We will continue to look at the rest of our concept doors, now that we have established the data criteria.”

• How many stores are left: 846

J.C. Penney has been struggling for some time, with its stock price trading in the single digits for more than three years and below $1.20 for nearly a year. On May 15, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and 242 stores — or 29% of its locations — will close between now and the next fiscal year.

• How many stores are left: 727

Sales at Gap stores have been flat or declining for years, and hundreds of stores have closed as a result.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 650

Express announced the closure of 31 stores in January, with 100 slated to shut down by 2022.

• How many stores are left: 581

The venerable retailer known for its flagship New York City location and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been closing stores regularly as they come off lease. It announced the closure of an additional 30 locations earlier this year.

• How many stores are left: 480

Forever 21 announced it would file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the second half of 2019. As part of that process, the company is closing 200 stores.

• How many stores are left: 451

A dismal drop in same-store sales has forced Christopher & Banks into a store-closing cycle. The closure of 30 to 40 stores began at the end of 2019.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 400

Falling sales and earnings have led to 27 stores closures at New York & Company, including sister company Fashion to Figure.

• How many stores are left: 249

The dramatic shift from brick-and-mortar stores to online sales has prompted Bose to close all 199 stores in North America, Japan, Australia and Europe over the first few months of 2020.

• How many stores are left: Fewer than 200

Sears was bought out of bankruptcy in 2019 by Transformco. As part of the reconfiguration of the brand, 51 additional Sears stores were placed on the chopping block.

• How many stores are left: 181

As an effort to reignite the brand, J. Crew closed 34 stores in 2018 and an additional 20 in 2019. In May, Chino Holdings — the parent company of J. Crew — announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 protection. J. Crew, however, said that it would continue to operate its online business and plans to reopen stores once lockdown restrictions are lifted.

• How many stores are left: Less than 100

Like its sister company Sears, Kmart was bought out of bankruptcy by Transformco, which announced its intention to close an additional 45 Kmart locations.

• How many stores are left: 75

Olympia Sports was acquired by sports retailer JackRabbit in 2019. As part of the process, 76 Olympia Sports outlets were slated to close, leaving 75 still operating.

• How many stores are left: Approximately 60

Destination Maternity is another retailer that filed bankruptcy in 2019. As part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, it was slated to close more than 180 of its stores.

• How many stores are left: 56

Bloomingdale’s is part of the storied Macy’s department store chain, and both names are struggling mightily as mall traffic declines. Bloomingdale’s has been slowly vanishing from the retail landscape, and another store is slated to close in 2020.

• How many stores are left: 43

In March, Neiman Marcus announced that it was getting out of the discount business by closing all 22 of its Last Call stores, in addition to laying off workers at its main brand stores. On May 7, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

• How many stores are left: 33

After more than 100 years in business, Lord & Taylor closed its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City in January 2019.

• How many stores are left: 0

Arts and crafts chain A.C. Moore announced at the end of 2019 that it would be closing all of its 145 stores, with some of them being converted into Michaels outlets.

• How many stores are left: 0

Microsoft announced recently that it would shift to an online-only approach and shutter all 83 of its brick-and-mortar stores.

• How many stores are left: 0

Greeting card and stationery chain Papyrus is another victim of the retail apocalypse, announcing earlier this year that it was filing for bankruptcy and would close all of its stores.

• How many stores are left: 0

Pier 1 Imports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February. The company announced May 19 that it would permanently close all of its stores.

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Chris Jennings and Erica Corbin contributed to the reporting for this article. 

Methodology: To determine which U.S. stores would be closing due to the new coronavirus, GOBankingRates sourced various reports and press releases, including a cumulative report from The New York Times. GOBankingRates then found how many stores would be qualified to close (typically all U.S. locations) from each store’s individual website. All data was collected and up to date as of March 24, 2020.