The retail apocalypse continues to rock the retail industry in 2019, with nearly the same level of closures expected to come this year. Retailers closed a record-breaking 102 million square feet of store space in 2017, then further beat that record in 2018 by closing another 155 million square feet of space, according to estimates by the commercial real estate firm CoStar Group.
“This year we are predicting more of the same in the retail space,” said Drew Myers, a CoStar senior consultant.
According to an analysis by Business Insider, retailers announced more than 5,300 store closures this year, including Payless, Gymboree, Charlotte Russe, Family Dollar and Shopko.
Payless filed for bankruptcy in February, planning to close all of its 2,500 stores. Gymboree Group previously filed for bankruptcy in June 2017, in which the company closed nearly 400 stores. It has since filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in January and plans to close more than 800 stores under its Gymboree and Crazy 8 banners.
Charlotte Russe will also be closing, beginning its sales at 94 stores in February after the company also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Just this month, the company announced it will be liquidating its remaining 416 Charlotte Russe stores and 10 Peek Kids stores.
Dollar Tree stated in March that it plans to convert nearly 200 Family Dollar stores into Dollar Tree stores. It will also close up to 390 additional stores under the Family Dollar brand.
Shopko will be closing 251 stores after it filed for bankruptcy in January. Meanwhile, the women’s clothing retailer Chico’s said it will be closing 100 chico’s stores, 90 White House Black Market stores, and 60 Soma stores over the next three years.
Victoria’s Secret is also found on the closing list, citing a “decline in performance.” It will be closing 53 stores in 2019. In addition, Gap is expected to close 230 namesake stores over the next two years, though it plans to spin off its Old Navy brand. The company reported that the brand’s same-store sales fell 7% during the holiday quarter.