These NJ Retail Stores And Restaurants Closed In 2025

Several national retail chains doing business in New Jersey disappeared entirely in 2025 amid surging costs, persistent inflation that curbed consumer demand, and intense e-commerce competition.

Below is a look back at how the retail landscape changed in New Jersey in 2025.

Among businesses that closed entirely in 2025 were Party City, the No. 1 U.S. party goods supplier; Jo-Ann, a leading supplier of fabric, sewing goods, and arts and crafts supplies; and fast-fashion retailer Forever 21, which closed its mall stores and adopted an e-commerce model.

Toward the end of 2024, Party City announced a series of closures, including 25 New Jersey stores located throughout Bridgewater, Clark, Hazlet, Howell, Jersey City, Paramus, Princeton, Wayne and more.

• Read More: Party City To Close All Stores, Including 25 In NJ: Report

In February, Jo-Ann also announced store closures that included New Jersey locations such as Mays Landing, Succasunna, Toms River, Mount Laurel, Deptford and Lawrenceville.

• Read More: Major Retailer To Close 6 NJ Stores

Citing slower mall traffic and online competition in the "fast fashion" industry, Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy for the second time in two years in May, affecting 15 store locations throughout New Jersey.

• Read More: Forever 21 Bankruptcy: What It Means For 15 NJ Stores

Rite Aid also closed the last of its drugstores in 2025. The chain began closing hundreds of stores in late 2023 and throughout 2024 as part of its bankruptcy filing, then filed a second bankruptcy in May 2025 and shuttered the remaining stores in September and October.

According to a notice filed with the state Department of Labor, over 1,100 employees were laid off in New Jersey amid the closings, and in October, CVS Pharmacy announced that it would take over select Rite Aid assets across the country, including 57 stores in New Jersey.

Other businesses downsized, closed underperforming locations, or filed for bankruptcy to manage debt and adapt to changes in consumer spending, including these stores in New Jersey:

• Amazon said it was closing some of its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores in California and Virginia after deciding the format doesn’t fit in those areas.
• At Home, a home-decor and furniture store, said in a June bankruptcy filing that it would close 26 stores
• Best Buy planned to continue its plan of gradually decreasing its national footprint with plans to shutter 10 to 15 in 2025, Money Digest reported.
• Big Lots’ bankruptcy led to hundreds of store closures. Leases were sold for about 400 to 600 stores, but 200 remained open after they were acquired by Variety Wholesalers, USA Today reported.
• Carter’s, one of the biggest baby and children’s apparel retailers in North America, said in October it would shutter 150 “low margin” stores over the next three years.
• Claire’s planned to close 291 stores nationwide in 2025 as part of its bankruptcy process, Newsweek reported.
• Denny’s continued to downsize in 2025 with plans to close 100 restaurants after having closed 50 in 2024, Food Chain Magazine reported.
• Dick’s Sporting Goods planned to close 35 locations in 2025, Patch previously reported.
• Dollar General said in a fourth-quarter 2024 earnings report that it planned to shutter 96 Dollar General and 45 Popshelf stores during the first quarter of 2025. The plan also included converting another six Popshelf stores into Dollar General stores.
• Dollar Tree, which acquired competitor Family Dollar in 2015, continued divesting itself from the struggling brand in 2025 and planned to close another 370 stores, Business Insider reported. In 2024, Dollar Tree shuttered 600 Family Dollar stores
• Foot Locker planned to close more than 400 stores before the beginning of 2026. Plans also included rebranding 280 stores to “focus on its community power store and play concepts,” ABC News reported.
• GameStop, which closed 590 U.S. locations in 2024 planned to close a “significant number” of additional stores by the end of 2025 Business Insider reported.
• JCPenney closed eight stores in May as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, USA Today reported. The department store company entered into a $947 million cash detail with the private equity firm Onyx Partners Ltd. to transfer ownership of 119 remaining locations, but the collapsed in December and the fate of the stores remains unclear, The Street reported.
• Kirkland’s, a home decor chain purchased by Bed Bath & Beyond, planned to shutter underperforming locations while also converting some to brands that could increase profit, USA Today reported.
• Kohl’s planned to close 27 “underperforming stores” and a fulfillment center before April, ChainStoreAge reported.
• Lumber Liquidators/LL Flooring planned to close 100 stores as part of the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. LL Flooring, which was previously known as Lumber Liquidators, had been expected to close entirely, but was purchased by a private equity firm in 2024, Retail Dive reported.
• Macy’s closed at least 66 stores in 2025 as part of an overall plan to shutter 150 stores through the end of 2026 to focus on its best-performing stores and improve the digital experience for customers, according to a news release.
• On The Border closed nearly a third of its 120 restaurants in February and later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Fast Company reported.
• PNC Bank, the nation’s continued downsizing after closing about 10 percent of its branches, closed a half dozen locations in 2025, The Street reported.
• Red Robin planned to close as many as 70 underperforming locations in the coming years, starting 2025 by closing about a dozen locations, Restaurant Dive reported.
• 7-Eleven planned to close 148 stores in 2025, adding to the 444 stores shuttered in 2024 as part of a strategy to focus on healthier food options and reduce costs amid declining cigarette sales and lower traffic, Fast Company reported.
• Starbucks said in September that it planned to close hundreds of stores and revamp others under a project that will potentially cost $1 billion, Newsweek reported.
• TGI Fridays planned to close 36 locations and sell off nine of its restaurants, Eat This, Not That! reported.
• Torrid told investors in March that it would begin a store optimization plan that would include the closure of 50 stores and makeovers at other locations, Retail Dive reported.
• United Parcel Service, better known as UPS, planned to close around 73 leased or owned buildings and cut nearly 20,000 jobs as part of the process, USA Today reported.
• Walgreens planned to close 2,150 locations through 2027, accounting for nearly a quarter of its 8,600 stores, Good Housekeeping reported.
• Walmart planned to close stores in six states in 2025, The Street reported. The stores were located in California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio and Wisconsin.