Target has dominated store closure news recently. Its latest move to close nine locations adds to this year’s total of roughly 3,200 retail stores closing their doors.
Here are some of the most recently announced brick-and-mortar closures, in addition to a couple of openings that could signal a shift for retailers attempting to capture new audiences.
Rite Aid
Pharmacy chain Rite Aid announced plans last month to close 25% of its existing locations, roughly 400–500 stores, as part of its bankruptcy negotiations. Pharmacies have struggled in a retail environment that increasingly prioritizes digital transactions and with the evolving nature of how prescription drugs are paid for.
- In 2021, CVS, for example, announced it would close about 1,100 locations.
- “People are going to have to go further for their pharmacies where the company doesn’t have the resources to properly staff,” Wendell Young, president of a union serving Rite Aid employees, told WPVI-TV. “They are going to find longer lines, probably some challenges getting things timely.”
Starbucks
This month, Starbucks will close seven San Francisco locations. However, the company will invest $2.5 million in upgrades to existing stores.
- The seven stores are located in San Francisco’s downtown, which has been hurt by dwindling office traffic.
Macy’s
Macy’s announced plans to open 30 smaller format stores, as it struggles with reduced mall traffic. The department store has been nearly synonymous with malls throughout its history.
- The smaller stores will be roughly a fifth of the size of its traditional mall locations, include a curated mix of products, and be sited in strip shopping plazas, Chief Stores Officer Marc Mastronardi told CNBC.
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“The high level of convenience in places that have a lot of traffic—that’s been the secret sauce,” Mastronardi said, according to CNBC.
Toys R Us
The Toys R Us comeback is in full swing. The retailer plans to open 24 flagship locations, and sell toys at airports and even on cruise ships. Some of those flagship stores will open near Macy’s stores that currently host Toys R Us shop-in-shops.
- The first airport location will open at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport next month.
- The start of Toys R Us’s return to the United States began with a 20,000-square-foot flagship location at the American Dream mall in 2021.
“The Toys R Us brand is growing fast and our expansion into air, land and sea is a testament to the brand’s strength,” Yehuda Shmidman, chairman and CEO of WHP Global, Toys R Us’s parent company, said in a statement.