US retailers shut a total of almost 5,500 stores in 2023 – with major brands like Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens and Rite Aid leading the pack.
The closures affected a whole range of sectors, from clothing stores to discount stores and drugstores, as American commerce increasingly takes to the internet.
But the home and office sector was hit hardest, accounting for more than 30 percent of all closures – more than twice the amount in 2022.
Many retailers, like Walgreens, pointed to escalating theft as an explanation for their dwindling profits and decision to close locations.
Total closures were 5,463, according to the latest estimates from advisory firm Coresight Research. That is a 30 percent increase on 2022.
Bed Bath & Beyond reported it would shut 866 stores, far more than any other retailer, according to the report.
That high count is because it filed for bankruptcy in April and liquidated all locations within months.
Its closures accounted for around half of the total that affected the home and office sector.
Walgreens came in second, having closed some 505 stores and bringing its total down to 8,880.
In June, the drugstore reported poor earnings in the face of reduced consumer spending and revenue from Covid vaccines.
CEO Rosalind Brewer said at the time the company would be ‘taking immediate actions to optimize profitability for our US healthcare segment,’ which would include the shutting of stores.
Rite Aid also closed 470 locations last year. Like Bed Bath & Beyond, those came shortly after a bankruptcy filing in October.
CVS shut 279 stores, bringing its total store count to 7,501. Almost 100 of last year’s closures were made by wedding dress seller David’s Bridal.
Other major retailers to have closed stores include: 7-Eleven, Foot Locker, Signet Jewelers, Christmas Tree Shops, Party City, Office Depot, Big Lots, Bath & Body Works, Sally Beauty, Save A Lot, Petco and Shoe City.
All three of the mainstream dollar stores shut significant numbers of stores last year.
Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, both owned by Dollar Tree, Inc., closed a total of 209 stores. Separately-owned Dollar General shut 99.
However, their closures were overshadowed by an avalanche of openings. The three retailers together accounted for 1,599 openings last year.
While closures in 2023 reached their highest level since the pandemic, openings were also well up. Last year, retailers opened a total of 5,837 – more than the total closures.
Bed Bath & Beyond – 886 closures
After Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy early last year, its intellectual property was purchased by Overstock.com for $21.5 million, which said it would continue operating the brand as a digital operation.
Around 120 Buybuy Baby locations were also affected in the process.
Bed Bath & Beyond sold the brand to New Jersey-based babywear designer Dream on Me Industries – which has one small store and an e-commerce site.
Since the sale only included intellectual rights to the company, Buybuy Baby’s brick-and-mortar locations closed.
Christmas Tree Shops – 82 closures
The seasonal retailer, founded in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1970, went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August, meaning its assets were to be liquidated.
In the process, all of its retail stores across the Northeast were closed.
It came after the brand filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May and took out a $45 million loan but failed to meet payments due to falling sales.
‘It’s clear to me that there’s been a complete breakdown,’ a judge was reported as having said during a bankruptcy hearing.
Hundreds of employees working at its headquarters and stores who were laid off during the collapse filed wage claims against the retailer.
New Jersey-based party-supply retailer Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last January.
A month later it announced it was going to close a total of 22 stores nationwide, with the possibility of more to come.
It previously operated more than 800 stores nationwide but had already closed 28 prior to the announcement.
After filing for Chapter 11 it completed restructuring efforts in October and came out of bankruptcy, but in total closed some 65 of its stores last year.
The company said at the time that the majority of its remaining stores would stay open.