The past year has been quite tough to navigate for the retail industry at large. The current tricky economic landscape with its rapidly rising inflation and interest rates which then lead to increased cost of living expenses has resulted in consumers shopping less and less – and this is not just in terms of luxury items, shoppers are feeling the pinch when it comes to getting their basic weekly essentials like food too.
As such, the retail sector has found itself struggling to stay afloat and store closures have hit the sector like a pandemic. Specialized (and beloved) stores like Joann Fabrics have been compelled to file for bankruptcy and will soon be shuttering all 800 of its stores, and popular supermarket chains like Walmart also ended 2024 with the news of several store closures.
Dollar General and Walgreens are the latest to join the closure club and are recording the highest numbers of closures amongst peers for January.
Dollar General and Walgreens closes several of its doors
According to reports from Supermarket News, the largest number of stores closed amongst major retailers has been by Walgreens and Dollar General.
The summer of 2024 saw the opening of 72 new Dollar General stores, with the company ending the year with only five closures. The next year, or rather the current year, saw the opening of nine new locations but the discount retailer shuttered 27 other locations during the course of January.
Since the retailer is still able to open new locations, the closures – despite outnumbering the openings by threefold – are likely an attempt to restructure operations to keep up with the current retail landscape.
The past year has seen Walgreens following a similar pattern, although things might not be as stable for the pharmacy chain comparatively. The East Coast, South, and Midwest had to say goodbye to a shocking 36 Walgreens locations as of 2025. Additionally, the pharmacy giant only opened a single new store for the new year so far. These closures are coming hot on the heels of 12 other closures in December 2024 which was preceded by a whopping 58 store closures in November 2024.
Consumer finances might not be the only reason Walgreens is being forced to downsize at such a rapid rate this way. Many supermarket or big box chains like Walmart and Costco each offer a pharmacy department with store specific discounts making it the more convenient option for shoppers to fill their prescriptions and other pharmaceutical needs.
Closures are in abundance
Whilst most retailers have had to downsize in one way or another, perhaps the most shocking news – particularly for lovers of arts and crafts – has to be the end of Joann Fabrics. The longstanding fabric and craft supply store has always been a go to for hobbyists. The retailer will be shuttering all 800 of its stores soon and the fact that it has reached this point truly is a sad representation of the current state of things. Consumers are barely earning enough to be able to afford the bare essentials like food and rent that craft supplies to practice a hobby have now become an out of reach luxury.
Speaking of “luxury” purchases, department stores like Macy’s, Kohl’s, and JC Penney are all downsizing their operations due to underperformance. JC Penney will say goodbye to eight of its stores spanning six states in the coming days. Currently, in the United States there are only 650 JC Penney locations, give or take. However, when the department store giant was at its peak, there were well over 2,000 locations in operation.
It appears that this year might be another twelve months of trouble for the retail industry if things persist in the way that they are. If there have been so many closures in January alone, who knows what the coming months will bring.