Store Closures Surge In RI: See List Of Retailers Shutting Doors

RHODE ISLAND — Some 3,200 brick-and-mortar stores, including many in Rhode Island, have closed so far this year, and more are expected to close through the remainder of the year, according to a new analysis.

Retail data provider CoreSight noted a 24 percent increase in store closures over last year as the retail industry adjusts to a shift in consumer shopping to online outlets, inflation, and bankruptcies.

The 30 stores closing some or all of their locations range from anchor stores such as Macy’s and other mall apparel stores to drugstores and discount stores selling items for around $1.

“A lot of this year's closures are related to bankruptcies of chains that have been in trouble for a while, like Rite Aid and Rue21,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, told CBS MoneyWatch. “We’re also seeing several retailers, like Family Dollar, take action to weed out underperforming locations.”

Family Dollar led the retail reshuffling by closing 620 stores. There are a total of 33 Family Dollar stores in Rhode Island as of this year.

According to CoreSight, here are the retail closures so far in the United States in 2024, some of which are in Rhode Island:

Family Dollar (620)
Rue21 (543)
99 Cents Only Stores (371)
CVS Health (315)
7-Eleven (272)
Rite Aid (165)
Express (105)
Walgreens Boots Alliance (77)
Macy’s (51)
The Body Shop (51)
Soft Surroundings (43)
Sam Ash Music (42)
Sleep Number (40)
Burlington Stores (39)
Foot Locker (36)
Foxtrot/Dom’s Kitchen & Market (35)
Carter’s (30)
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (22)
Outdoor Voices (16)
Signet Jewelers (14)
Big Lots (13)
Ashley (13)
Dollar General (12)
H&M (10)
Allbirds (10)
American Freight (10)
Best Buy (9)
Mainline Pharmacy (9)
Alimentation Couche-Tard (9)
Ross Stores (9)

Consumer spending remains solid, rising 0.2 percent in April, according to the latest available government data. But confidence may be declining, according to the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumer sentiment. The consumer confidence dropped to 69.1 in May, down from 77.2 in April.

Jeffrey Roach, LPL Financial’s chief economist, told CBS News that “uncertainty about the inflation path could suppress consumer spending in the coming months.”

Also, Roach said in an earlier interview with CBS that consumers have mostly spent any federal pandemic stimulus money that may have temporarily bolstered their bank accounts. With those windfalls exhausted, consumers are likely to cut back on discretionary spending, he said.

Some retailers made strategic errors, Saunders told CBS. For example, Express, an apparel store specializing in workplace attire, “made too little effort to adapt” when they began working from home during the pandemic, Saunders said in a research note. Express said it would close 100 of its 500 stores as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

UBS retail analysts led by Michael Lasser said in an April report by Retail Dive there’s too much retail space in the country, and third-party outlets such as Shein and Temu are expected to drive further online retail penetration, which is expected to increase to 26 percent from 21 percent.

Especially vulnerable are apparel and accessories, consumer electronics home furnishing retailers, according to the UBS analysts. The outlook isn’t entirely bleak for retailers. Although department stores are likely to continue to lose market share, off-price conglomerates such as TJK, whose banners include T.J. Maxx, could grab billions in sales from the closure of 150 underperforming Macy’s stores, according to analysts.

The 100-page UBS analysis said brick-and-mortar stores are “an important part of the overall retail ecosystem.”

“In the simplest terms, stores serve as hubs of fulfillment and support distribution logistics,” UBS said. “This is increasingly more important as consumers are becoming more demanding for convenience or immediate deliveries.”

Walmart, Target, Costco, Home Depot, and other large retailers that have invested in customer experiences across all channels are best positioned to survive “a biological evolution similar to survival of the fittest,” UBS said in the analysis.