The ongoing closure of retail stores across the United States has reached record levels, with more than 4,810 shops now closing their doors. The last few weeks have apparently been especially brutal, as hundreds of stores inside shopping centers and malls have closed up shop. This included the closure of dozens of shops from well-known companies such as Dollar Tree, Charlotte Russe, Amazon, and Abercrombie & Fitch.
According to a report published by Coresight Research, the total number of stores that have closed so far in the first two months of 2019 have now reached over 4,810 shops. Among those that closed the most retail outlets includes Dollar Tree, which closed around 390 Family Dollar stores just this week. Popular apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch also closed 40 stores last week.
The American clothing retail chain store brand, Charlotte Russe, has also now started liquidation sales of its assets following its recent bankruptcy announcement. The company is reportedly planning to shut down all of the 500 retail shops around the country. Charlotte Russe previously only planned to shut down 94 shops as part of its bankruptcy plans.
Meanwhile, due to decreased sales and increasing losses, Amazon has recently announced that it will be shutting down more than 87 of its Whole Foods outlets. Most of the outlets that will be closed are inside Kohl's department stores and other malls across the United States. Other companies that have announced outlet closures include Victoria's Secret, Gap, J.C. Penney, and Chico's.
Despite the grim outlook of the country's retail outlet market, the report does have some positive news. According to the report, the data gathering agency has tracked more than 2,264 new store openings in the first two months of 2019. While some more well-known companies are closing up shop, some newer brands are opening new outlets across the country. Companies such as Peloton, Indochino, Ultra Beauty, and Ross are apparently expanding.
In the wake of the recent store closures, mall and real estate owners are now changing their strategies to fill up their empty storefronts. Some malls are now slowly trying to convince online startups to open up brick and mortar outlets. Other mall owners are experimenting with allowing multiple brands to rent out a single space. Meanwhile, some real estate owners are adding gyms, offices, and apartments to rent out their storefronts in an attempt to recover losses.
With the decrease in the demand for huge shopping malls, development for these types of infrastructures has also slowed down. However, some developers are still betting against the current trend. A real estate developer in New York has announced plans to open up a massive shopping complex in the city called The Shops at Hudson Yards in the coming weeks.
