These Beloved Retailers Permanently Closed In GA In 2025

The holiday shopping season is almost upon us, and Georgia consumers might be surprised to see that some of their favorite brick-and-mortar stores have disappeared since they last checked off gifts on Santa’s list.

Fast fashion retailer Forever 21 is gone. So is Joann, the fabric and crafts retailer. And forget picking up stocking stuffers at Rite Aid, which shuttered its entire fleet of stores this year.

In all, some 2,700 stores nationwide have locked their doors or are planning to close in 2025, according to a Business Insider analysis.

There are multiple reasons, but a big one is e-commerce competition. In a report last year, UBS analysts said another 45,000 stores may close by 2029 as retail’s physical footprint increasingly shifts to fulfillment and distribution centers.

Amid the store closures and constrictions, larger corporations such as Walmart, Costco, Target and Home Depot plan to expand, according to the analysis.

Large businesses benefit from their size, which allows them to absorb higher costs and secure more favorable agreements compared to smaller businesses — especially the independent shops that anchor main streets across the country.

It only takes a small shift in the economy to sour what was once a profitable business. For many, “the tariffs are that kind of tipping point,” Scott Lincicome, vice president of economics and trade at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, told Minnesota Public Radio’s “Marketplace.”

Georgia Retail Closings So Far In 2025

Here’s a look at companies that have closed stores, and some that have gotten a reprieve so far in Georgia in 2025:

Advance Auto Parts planned to close 523 corporate stores and four distribution centers by mid-2025, in addition to 204 independent locations. The auto parts giant reportedly shuttered 48 Georgia locations so far this year, including several in metro Atlanta. In March, the company said it planned to open new stores following the "optimization of the company's retail footprint."

At Home entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June and said at the time that it planned to close up to 26 stores before the end of September. So far, all Georgia locations have been spared.

Best Buy planned to shutter an additional 10 to 15 stores in 2025 after closing 24 last year. Georgia's 29 locations appeared to remain open.

Big Lots held on during bankruptcy after getting a lifeline from Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, which saved between 200 and 400 stores from full liquidation. However, the new owners planned to sell the leases to 480 stores, according to Business Insider. Variety Wholesalers took over 219 Big Lots stores from Gordon Brothers and planned to open 14 new locations in Georgia.

Claire’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this summer. The retailer planned to close 700 stores and was considering liquidating its entire 1,500-store footprint in North America. However, when a private equity firm acquired Claire’s assets, the liquidation plan was paused for about half of the stores. In Georgia, eight stores were closed.

Dollar General planned to close nearly 100 stores and 45 Popshelf stores nationwide by year’s end. The stores represent less than 1 percent of the company’s overall store base, and some Popshelf stores will be converted to Dollar General locations. Dollar General operates just at least 464 stores in Georgia.

Dollar Tree sold Family Dollar to private equity firms in a $1 billion deal that closed in July. Business Insider reported that Dollar Tree initially closed 600 Family Dollar locations in 2024 and planned to close another 370 Family Dollar stores in 2025 when their leases expire.

Foot Locker planned to shut down another 275 Foot Locker and 125 Champs Sports locations, reducing its global store count by 10 percent. At the same time, the chain planned to refresh 300 stores.

Fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 closed 356 U.S. stores, citing overseas competition, rising costs and other economic challenges in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. International stores were not affected. Forever 21 operated 18 locations in Georgia that were impacted by the closures.

GameStop isn’t going out of business and still has a large U.S. presence, but the video game retailer planned to close a “significant number” of stores in 2025 as it continues a restructuring plan. GameStop shuttered about 960 stores in 2024.

Despite a cautious turnaround in company fortunes, clothing retailer The Gap planned to close 35 net locations this year. The popular chain has shut down at least five Gap locations and at least three Banana Republic sites since Fiscal Year 2020.

JCPenney closed eight stores in May, calling them “isolated” closures that did not signal a reduction in the venerable department chain’s store count.

The last Joann fabric stores closed in May; however, one of the retailer’s biggest rivals, Michaels, bought some of the company's private label brands and intellectual property. All 18 Joann locations in Georgia were closed.

Department retailer Kohl's planned to shutter 27 underperforming stores by April, including its Duluth location at 2050 W. Liddell Road.

Liberated Brands planned to shutter its entire fleet of 122 retail stores, including all Volcom, Billabong, Quiksilver, Spyder, RVCA and Roxy stores, Fashion Dive reported.

Macy’s planned to close another 66 stores this year as part of its “A Bold New Chapter” strategy that will shutter 150 underperforming stores by the end of 2026. The retail giant closed stores in Duluth and Suwanee this year.

Party City closed for good this year, Patch previously reported. This included 27 locations in Georgia.

Citing a revenue slump, Petco announced in September that it would close 25 underperforming stores; however, Georgia locations were spared. The pet supply retailer closed the same number of stores in 2024, and currently has a store count of about 1,400 nationwide.

Rite Aid closed all of its stores nationwide this year. With an estimate of 1,250 stores, Rite Aid sold most of them to rival pharmacy chains. The company filed first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, then again in May.

Torrid, which specializes in clothing and intimates for women’s sizes 10 to 30, originally said it would close 40 to 50 stores by the end of 2025 as part of an “optimization” plan, but upped the total to 180 as it shifts to a digital model, according to Torrid’s first-quarter earnings report. Torrid has 19 locations in Georgia.

Walgreens is expected to close 450 locations by the end of the year as part of a multi-year plan to shutter about 1,200 underperforming stores, USA Today reported. More closures are expected in 2026 and 2027 as part of the cost-cutting strategy.

Consumers Fret About Prices

Everyday Americans are on the same precipice. Tariffs are adding to inflation, high credit card interest rates and other pressures already pushing many families to the edges of their financial comfort.

To get the best deals, many consumers began their holiday shopping last summer, before President Donald Trump’s retaliatory tariffs on some of the top importers of U.S. consumer goods took effect.

Nearly half (49 percent) of the 2,600 consumers surveyed by Bankrate said they planned to start buying gifts before Halloween, and 41 percent are worried about higher prices.

“Tariff concerns are likely a prominent reason why more than 2 in 5 holiday shoppers fear higher prices this year,” said Ted Rossman, a senior analyst at Bankrate.

About 70 percent of those surveyed said they expect to spend the same (43 percent) or more (27 percent), according to the survey.

That could be good news for retail businesses that are dependent on the fourth-quarter holiday sales to finish the year in the black.

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