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NEW YORK—The pace of U.S. retail closures is expected to pick up in 2025, according to a forecast by Coresight Research, which expects about 15,000 stores to be shuttered this year.
That's up from the 7,325 store closures tracked by the research and advisory firm in 2024. That number, in turn, represented a big spike over the previous year.
“Inflation and a growing preference among consumers to shop online to find the cheapest deals took a toll on brick-and-mortar retailers in 2024,” said Coresight Research CEO Deborah Weinswig. “Last year we saw the highest number of closures since the pandemic. Retailers that were unable to adapt supply chains and implement technology to cut costs were significantly impacted, and we continue to see a trend of consumers opting for the path of least resistance. Not only do they want the best prices, but they also have no patience for stores that are constantly disorganized, out of stock, and that deliver poor customer service. We have seen Shein and Temu capture market share as consumers choose to shop online to save time, money, and avoid frustration. Retailers need to embrace technologies like artificial intelligence to deliver a better customer experience and to optimize pricing to remain relevant and avoid ongoing closures.”
Supporting its projections of a higher number of store closures in 2025, Coresight Research notes that it has already tracked over 2,000 planned closures for 2025. As of January 17, major US retailers have announced 29.6% fewer openings and 334.3% more closures when compared to the year-ago period. Closures announced late in 2024/early in 2025 by Party City, Big Lots, Kohl’s, and Macy’s that are planned for 2025 are causing the elevated closure numbers early this year.
Coresight Research sees major store closure programs falling into three broad categories: liquidations resulting in all stores closing; distressed retailers closing large swathes of stores, often under Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring; and legacy retailers reshaping their store footprints due to a changed retail context.
Through its weekly Store Tracker reports, Coresight monitors store openings and closures. In 2024, there were 5,970 store openings, the highest number since 2012, when Coresight Research began tracking this data. (Historic data and detailed insights can also be found in the company's US and UK Store Tracker Databank.) Overall, though, store closures outpaced openings in 2024, with a net loss of 1,355 stores (as of January 10, 2025).
Coresight Research projects that store openings this year will total about 5,800.
