So many stores are closing in 2025 due to a combination of rising operational costs (inflation, labor, leases) and shifting consumer behavior favoring online shopping, leading to flagging sales, reduced spending power for consumers, and bankruptcies for struggling chains like Rite Aid, Big Lots, and department stores. This "retail reset" is forcing underperforming physical locations to shut down as companies optimize for profitability, with some facing a reckoning after pandemic-era spending sprees.
Here are the retailers who announced store closures in 2025
Brad Sell, the company's chief financial officer, said in the statement: “We have been unable to find a sustainable path forward, given competition from foreign fast fashion companies… as well as rising costs, economic challenges impacting our core customers and evolving consumer trends.”
The parent company of fashion retailer Forever 21 has merged with JCPenney to form a brand new company called Catalyst Brands.
In 2026, major U.S. retailers like Macy's, Kroger, and Walgreens are closing stores as part of restructuring, focusing on efficiency, and adapting to e-commerce shifts, with department stores such as JCPenney} and specialty shops like Yankee Candle} also trimming their footprints. While some, like Francesca's, are closing entirely, many chains are reducing their physical presence by shutting underperforming locations to invest in stronger ones or online platforms, affecting malls nationwide.
These national and regional retailers went out of business in...
Embrace technology: Innovations will create new opportunities. Artificial intelligence could take on shopping tasks, with unmanned drones and vehicles delivering orders as needed. AI may use consumer data to tailor the design, layout and merchandising of each store to the needs of its specific trade area.
In 2025, the fastest-growing industries center around Technology (AI, Cybersecurity, Software, AR/VR), Healthcare & Life Sciences (Biotech, Telehealth, Wellness), Sustainability & Energy (Renewable Energy, EV Tech), and Digital Commerce & Services (E-commerce, Fintech, Logistics). These sectors are driven by innovation, increasing digitalization, shifting consumer needs, and global pushes towards sustainability, creating high demand for specialized skills and new business opportunities.
The return of the storefront. For years, headlines warned of a looming “retail apocalypse.” Yet here we are in 2025 — and physical retail has not only survived, it's thriving. Far from being replaced by e-commerce, brick-and-mortar has become a vital cornerstone of the modern retail ecosystem.
Here are some of the major chains that went bust in 2025:
Many popular stores no longer exist due to retail shifts, bankruptcy, or online competition, including major names like Toys "R" Us, Borders, Circuit City, RadioShack, and Blockbuster, alongside department stores like Mervyn's, Marshall Field's, and Henri Bendel, and clothing retailers such as The Limited, Wet Seal, and Dress Barn. Even large chains like Kmart, Sears, and Fry's Electronics have significantly shrunk or vanished, with some assets liquidated.
In a new industry survey, 84.8% of L.A. restaurants said business decreased in 2025. Here, local chefs and restaurateurs sound off on the difficult year, with some optimism for the future of L.A.'s restaurant scene.
Lord & Taylor is making a comeback. Nearly five years after filing for bankruptcy protection and shuttering its brick-and-mortar locations in 2021, the beloved department store has announced plans to relaunch as an online retailer in 2025.
Traditional shopping malls, once bustling centers of commerce, are now being converted into mixed-use communities that incorporate residential housing, adding much-needed housing supply to the market.
Over the next decade, consumers will increasingly seek more engaging shopping experiences driven by dynamic, personalized digital content that reinforces the messaging and information that customers have already seen online and on social media.
Retailers and restaurants that have already announced closures...
Target, Walmart, Costco, and Trader Joe's plan to open new stores in 2025. New store openings are planned in over a dozen states, including California, Texas, and Michigan.
Shift to e-commerce
The main factor cited in the closing of retail stores in the retail apocalypse is the shift in consumer habits towards online shopping. Holiday sales for e-commerce increased by an estimated 11% to 20% from 2015 to 2016.
See the list of major closures below.