These 6 Retail Chains Have Closed Over 300 Stores Each in 2025

People like to vaguely blame the economy, the internet, and the Covid virus for why various chains have gotten smaller or even shut down entirely.

The reality is that while all of those things factor in, management play an even bigger part in a company failing. Businesses file for bankruptcy when they face insurmountable debt.

You don't get to that point just because labor prices go up or your cost of goods increases. Failing takes a lot of bad mistakes, and many of the companies closing hundreds of locations clearly had management make some poor decisions.

Research suggests that more than 15,000 stores across the U.S. will close in 2025, according to Coresight data.

That’s more than double the 7,000 that shut down last year. Closed stores aren’t the result of just one problem. They reflect a mix of overlapping pressures that continue to reshape how retail stores operate,” Bitly Blog reported.

Mall traffic has not declined at upscale malls.

Image source: Getty Images

3 reasons retailers are closing stores in 2025

Economic pressure and inflation: One of the key reasons brick-and-mortar stores are shutting down in 2025 is a combination of economic pressure, rising interest rates, and inflation.

To make matters worse, inflation and impending tariffs are driving up the cost of goods. Grocery prices have jumped 23% since 2021, and the cost of electronics could rise by up to 68%, depending on the category.

Changing consumer habits and the rise of online shopping: Online shopping still makes up only about 16% of total retail sales, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St, Louis, but much of that comes at the expense of traditional retailers.
Strategic missteps and the failure to pivot: Retailers like Party City and Joann failed to adapt their business model to changing consumer demands, and now both brands no longer exist.

These retailers closed over 300 locations in 2025

Retail isn't going away. Barnes & Noble, a brand many assumed was on its way to death as book sales went digital, has turned its business around, found a profitable operating model, and has been opening new locations in 2025.

Failures tend to be brand specific.

“This wave of closures isn’t signaling the total eradication of physical retail – it’s spelling out a critical message for retailers: Transform your physical store experience or risk extinction. The landscape of American retail is changing, with new customer demands, new players, new competition and a growing proportion of sales taking place across new digital channels like social commerce,” wrote Retail Touchpoints' Tobias Ring.

More Retail Stocks:

These six retailers have failed to do that.

Rite Aid: Over 1,100 closures in 2025 (on the path to a total shutdown)
Party City: Roughly 738 closures (complete chain)
Joann Fabrics: Around 800 closures (complete chain)
Forever 21: 350 closures (entire U.S. chain)
Walgreens: Around 333 closures in 2025 (more likely)
Big Lots: 601 closures (whole chain, but some have reopened under new owners licensing the Big Lots name)

More retail closures and bankruptcies are coming

RetailWire CEO Dominick Miserandino painted a somewhat bleak picture in an interview with the U.S. Sun.

“You have a lot of uncertainty in terms of the world in general, and I think that uncertainty never really helps grow economies. 15,000 is a bleak and sad number. I think we have had the instability of Covid in the past. Now we have the instability of an administration and directional change,” he said.

And while the economy could improve, short-term headwinds remain significant.

“Kearney’s most recent Supply Chain Navigator projects that global supply chain costs will rise up to 7% above inflation by Q4 2025. Inventories stockpiled ahead of tariff deadlines are now being depleted, forcing companies to restock at higher prices. This is an early signal that the cost of goods and materials is rising before they reach store shelves, creating intensifying margin pressure,” notes Kearney partner Suketu Gandhi.

“For retailers, the choice is price stability or margin: Should they defend the customer by not raising prices to match their costs, or should they protect their margins? With volatility now the new default setting, this quarter could mean a big reset.”

Miserandino, however, does not see this as a “retail apocalypse,” as it has often been called.

“It's not so much an apocalypse by far — it's people thriving on one hand, who are good at certain parts of this new world. The world is shifting, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a negative. It just means things have shifted,” he added.