What happened to that box?
Posted on 01/24/2025 9:18:39 AM PST by SeekAndFind
A total of 7,325 U.S. stores closed in 2024, driven by inflation and an increasing shift toward online shopping, according to retail data firm Coresight Research. The closings marked the steepest decline in brick-and-mortar retail since nearly 10,000 stores closed in 2020.
While 5,970 stores opened—the highest yearly number since 2012—closures outpaced openings by a net loss of 1,355 stores.
"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," said Coresight Research CEO Deborah Weinswig. "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."
The challenges aren't expected to stop.
Coresight predicts 15,000 stores across the country will close in 2025, with more than 2,000 already announced. Companies like Party City, Big Lots, Kohl's, and Macy’s have disclosed significant shutdown plans, fueling concerns of a more difficult year ahead for traditional retailers.
The surge in store closings has been driven by several factors, according to Coresight.
Business liquidations—like in Party City's case—and companies filing for bankruptcy restructuring, often under Chapter 11, have caused thousands of stores to close. Some legacy retailers are also reshaping their physical store footprints to adapt to the changing shopping landscape.
Coresight also noted customers are abandoning stores for Chinese online giants Shein and Temu, drawn by cheaper prices despite usually lower-quality products.
"We have seen Shein and Temu capture market share as consumers choose to shop online to save time, money, and avoid frustration," Weinswig said. "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."
As of Friday, Jan. 17, major U.S. retailers have announced 29.6 percent fewer store openings so far in 2025, compared to the same period in 2024.
They’ve used up all their credit.
Anecdotal evidence is that malls and supermarkets are less crowded now than previously. Are many people shopping online for many items they used to buy in stores?
Just anecdotal, but the malls weren’t as crowded at Christmas as usual, and supermarkets don’t seem as busy even on normally busy weekend days, as previously.
Lots of thievery going on, too,
Stores can’t sustain that kind of loss and remain in business
Foot traffic has completely collapsed in the last week or two.
It feels more serious than the usual post-Christmas slow down.
Foot traffic in the grocery stores may be due to online orders and drive through and home delivery.
The mall slow down feels like fewer customers.
Awhile back I needed a tie clasp. (Because of my wit and charm, I’m in great demand at social occasions.)🙂
I like to shop local. So I went to four different department stores looking for a plain ol’ tie clasp. Nothing fancy. Three didn’t carry tie clasps at all. The fourth had a silver one for $80. No thanks.
So I checked Amazon. There were hundreds of choices there. I got a serviceable one for $10. And it was delivered right to my house.
Unfortunately, that’s the future of shopping.
I have box full of tie clasps that I no longer use. I would have loaned one to you.
States like California pushing the minimum wage up too high is also a huge contributing factor.
What happened to that box?
People are spoiled. They think they need to have at least a dozen different outfits for each of the 4 seasons. from what I’ve seen as a truck driver, yard sales are buried with clothes, so much so, that sometimes the clothes are just laying in piles on tarps or plastic, taking up entire front yards.
My wife likes looking at the donation stores. She has kept me in dirt cheap like new shirts for decades. And she finds some really nice outfits for herself, some of it with the original store tags. All for cheap.
My wife and I have said for years that if people here want to bring back clothing manufacturing to the USA, then stop buying China made clothes.
People will complain about higher prices. My answer is: “then buy half as much. You probably have enough in the closet to boycott China clothes for at least a year”.
(Exception: socks and underwear have shorter life spans. Please don’t stop wearing socks and underwear when the old wears out.)
I’m out there Jerry and I am loving every minute of it!
We need less stores. Why waste gas, wear and tear, chance door dings, wrecks, holdups, attacks, road rage, broken windshields, damage from potholes, flat tires, hitting animals and more when what I want arrives on my porch for the same price?
The EU is in huge trouble and headed for a similar economic meltdown to 2007/8. The US can avert a bad slide by cutting the spending. Biden did a number on the US.
The only good from C-19 was curbside pick up.
Opening a new business has always been hard to pull off. It is harder now with some (not enough) people realizing they don’t have the money to buy, buy, buy.
THIS 🖕🖕👆
Restaurants too.
I meet friends at a usually crowded chain-type restaurant that is normally very very busy at lunch time, we often have to wait for a table.
Went last week and we were the ONLY people in the entire restaurant including the bar area. Never seen it empty like this in the 25 years we’ve been going.
Doesn’t help that the lunch special prices have gone from $7.99 a few years ago to $17.99.
I can’t remember the last time i donned a necktie.
Tariff times for Shein and Temu
“Just anecdotal, but the malls weren’t as crowded at Christmas as usual”
That definitely wasn’t the case here. I had to skip several constitutional walks in the mall because I couldn’t get three strides in before encountering cross traffic.
“Lots of thievery going on, too”
Some places, not so much others.
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