Well known stores shut doors

Toys R Us, Sears, JCPenney, Macy’s, and Abercrombie and Fitch are just a few examples of extremely popular stores losing business in 2018. One of the leading causes of declining business sales in stores is online shopping becoming increasingly popular. Especially with the holiday season in session, more and more people are avoiding the tough crowds of people in popular stores and are skipping right to online shopping.

Toys R Us:

In March, Toys R Us announced that it would be shutting down all locations in the United States. With its closure, the store joined a long list of beloved retailers to call it quits (Sports Authority, Blockbuster, RadioShack, etc.). Ultimately, what led to the closure was its massive debt load and private equity ownership model.

Sears:

Over the course of 2018, the department store owner has decided to close nearly 250 underperforming Sears and Kmart locations. The most recent round of closures came in August when Sears announced that 13 Kmart and 33 Sears stores would be shuttered in November. They aim to streamline operations and focus on the highest-performing locations — also testing new initiatives such as a Kmart shop-in-shop that opened in a Brooklyn Sears this summer.

JCPenney:

After shuttering almost 140 stores in 2017, JCPenney announced early this year that it would be closing eight more locations. In an effort to turn things around, the retailer has begun to offer in-store pickup for online purchases and has added brands like Nike to its product mix, but JCPenney’s latest earnings report demonstrated that it has a ways to go, with sales falling below in the second quarter.

Macy’s:

Decreased inventory and expanding e-commerce have led to gains for Macy’s in recent months. But the retailer started off 2018 with a fresh round of store closures, shuttering 11 locations as part of a plan previously announced that includes shutting down over 100 stores.

Abercrombie and Fitch:

Abercrombie & Fitch Co., parent company to A&F and Hollister, announced plans to shutter 60 stores in 2018 through natural lease expirations. The company has closed more than 400 locations since 2010. So far in 2018, lower-than-expected earnings for the second quarter have been predicted, causing share prices to take a tumble.