DIpil Das
Store Tracker Extra: More Data Each Month
In our US Store Tracker Extra monthly series, new for 2021, we offer insight into retailers’ store closure and opening announcements on a monthly basis—supplementing our Weekly US and UK Store Openings and Closures Tracker report. We include retailer-level details on closures and openings as a percentage of total store base as well as square-footage impact. This report also offers a comparison between year-to-date announced closures and openings as of February 26, 2021 (corresponding to week eight in our Weekly US and UK Store Openings and Closures Tracker) versus the comparable period in 2020 (the nine weeks ended February 29, 2020).2021 Major US Store Closures: Proportion of Store Base and Square Footage
As of February 26, 2021, major US retailers have announced 2,222 store closures for this year. This compares to 1,271 announced closures in the comparable period of 2020, as we discuss later in this report. In February 2021, the following retailers made store closure announcements:- Fry’s Electronics announced the permanent closure of its 31 stores across the US. The retailer ceased its regular operations from February 24 and has initiated the wind-down process amid changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The retailer’s closures will account for approximately 4.2 million square feet of total retail space, we estimate.
- Sears and Kmart announced that they will close 13 and seven stores, respectively, by mid-April 2021, accounting for an estimated 2.6 million square feet of total retail space in total. There have been no major announcements from Transformco, parent company of both Sears and Kmart, since 2019. Sears and Kmart have closed more than 3,500 stores in the past 15 years.
- Skechers said that it will close 23 company-owned stores by the end of the first quarter of 2021, which represents around 4% of its total store base in the US. We estimate that the closures will account for around 69,000 square feet of total retail space.
- Toys “R” Us announced the permanent closure of its two stores in Galleria Mall, Houston, and Garden State Plaza, New Jersey. Tru Kids and b8ta opened the two Toys "R" Us stores in November 2019 as a part of a small US comeback after the liquidation of Toys "R" Us in 2018. The retailer’s closures will account for an estimated 12,000 square feet of closed retail space. The toy retailer’s website will continue to operate, but it will not have a brick-and-mortar presence.
Figure 1. Year-to-Date Announced US Store Closures Estimates for 2021, by Retailer, in Comparison to Total Store Base (Listed by Most to Least Closures) [wpdatatable id=776 table_view=regular]
Store count information for retailers in the above list are based on latest reported count (the third quarter of the fiscal year ending January 2021 or the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending December 2020 for most public companies). *Total store base count represented for Genesco is for global and Michaels Stores is for North America, as a US specific breakdown could not be obtained. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research Overall, the announced year-to date closures equate to over 31 million square feet in closed retail space, we estimate. In Figure 2, we show the estimated square-footage impact of various retailers’ year-to-date store closure announcements for 2021.
Figure 2. Year-to-Date Announced 2021 US Store Closures Estimates in Gross Square Feet, by Retailer (Thous.) [caption id="attachment_124133" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]
2021 Major US Store Openings: Proportion of Store Base and Square Footage
As of February 26, 2021, major US retailers have announced 2,257 store openings. This compares to 2,112 announced openings in the comparable period of 2020, which we discuss later in this report. In February, the following retailers announced store openings for 2021:- Aldi announced plans to open 100 stores this year, as part of its multiyear expansion plan to operate 2,500 stores by the end of 2022. The retailer’s store openings will account for approximately 1.6 million square feet of total retail space, we estimate; we have revised the number of openings and square-footage information for Aldi based on this latest announcement. The retailer opened 95 new stores in 2020 and operates 2,072 stores as of February 10, 2021.
- At Home announced plans to open 12–15 stores in 2021—a 5% expansion of its total fleet of 219 stores. The retailer has already opened four new stores in last two months. The new openings for 2021 will account for an estimated 1.3 million square feet of total retail space.
- Dick’s Sporting Goods will open five new stores across five US states—one Dick’s Sporting Goods store and four Warehouse Sale stores. The new stores will account for an estimated 256,000 square feet of total retail space.
- Five Below will open 170 new stores in 2021, which will result in a 16% expansion of its total store feet, which stood at 1,041 as of December 31, 2020. The retailer opened 141 new stores in 2020. We estimate that the 2021 store openings will account for 1.5 million square feet of total retail space.
- Läderach, a luxury Swiss chocolatier, announced plans to open 34 new stores by end of summer 2021. This would represent a more than 1,000% expansion of its current fleet of three stores in the US market. Läderach will take over Godiva’s 34 locations as part of an asset purchase agreement. (Square-footage data not available.)
- Murphy USA will open 55 new locations in 2021—a 4% expansion on its current fleet of 1,503 as of December 31, 2020. The convenience store and gas station chain operated 1,151 Murphy USA sites and 352 Murphy Express sites across the US as of December 31, 2020. Murphy USA’s new openings will account for an estimated 154,000 square feet of total retail space.
- PGA TOUR Superstore, a golf and tennis gear retailer, has announced plans to open six new stores this year amid record comparable store sales growth in 2020. The new store openings will result in a 14% expansion of the current store fleet of 44 and will account for an estimated 240,000 square feet of total retail space.
- Sleep Number will open 40–50 stores in 2021, representing an increase of 7% on the existing fleet of 605 stores as of February 24, 2021. We estimate that the new store openings will account for nearly 112,000 square feet of total retail space.
- Tractor Supply Company announced that it will open 80 Tractor Supply stores and 10 Petsense stores by the end of fiscal 2021, which will result in a 4% and 6% expansion of the banners’ store fleets, respectively. The retailer operates a total of 2,105 stores, of which 1,923 are Tractor Supply and 182 are Petsense, as of December 26, 2020. The new openings in 2021 will account for around 2.5 million square feet of total retail space as per our estimates.
- The RealReal has announced plans to open 10 neighborhood stores in 2021, representinga 125% expansion on the existing fleet of eight shoppable stores in the US. (Square-footage data not available.)
Figure 3. Year-to-Date Announced US Store Openings Estimates for 2021, by Retailer, in Comparison to Total Store Base (Listed by Most to Least Openings) [wpdatatable id=777 table_view=regular]
Store base considered for Genesco and Payless is global, while Michaels Stores store count is for North America. Store count information for retailers in the above list are based on latest reported count (the third quarter of the fiscal year ending January 2021 or the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending December 2020 for most public companies). Source: Company reports/Coresight Research
Overall, the announced year-to date openings equate to over 25.8 million square feet in new retail space, we estimate.
In Figure 4, we show the square-footage impact of various retailers’ year-to-date store opening announcements for 2021.
Figure 4. Year-to-Date Announced 2021 US Store Openings Estimates in Gross Square Feet, by Retailer (Thous.) [caption id="attachment_124134" align="aligncenter" width="725"]
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]
2021 Versus 2020: A Year-to-Date Comparison
The charts below depict the week-by-week totals of announced US store closures and openings year-to-date in 2021, as well as the comparative figures for 2020. Compared to this time last year, both store closure and opening announcement totals are ahead year-to-date in 2021. We estimate that total store closures will reach nearly 10,000 and that store openings will total around 4,000 this year. Year-to-date announced store closures in February 2021 are led by apparel retailers, which account for 990 closures, representing 45% of total closures. The year-to-date equivalent closures for February 2020 were led by grocery retailers, which had announced 421 closures and accounted for 33% of total announced closures. Year-to-date announced store openings in February 2021 are led by discount store retailers, which account for 1,286 openings, representing 57% of total openings. The year-to-date equivalent closures for February 2020 were also led by discount store retailers, which had announced 1,201 openings and accounted for 51% of total announced openings.Figure 5. US Announced Store Closures and Openings: Week-by-Week Comparison, 2021 (Top) vs 2020 (Bottom) [wpdatachart id=168] [wpdatachart id=169]
February 2021 spans weeks five to eight, while the comparable period in 2020 spans weeks six to nine: Our tracker counts map four weeks in January 2021, versus five weeks in January 2020. Coresight Research periodically updates the count for openings and closures when there are new updates or revisions to previous announcements from companies, and this could involve retrospective revisions of totals for some weeks. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research
US Retail Bankruptcies: 2021 Versus 2020
Belk and Solstice Marketing Concepts filed for bankruptcy in February 2021, taking the total of US bankruptcy filings so far this year to five. However, Belk exited bankruptcy one day after filing. In the tables below, we offer a comparative view of year-to-date bankruptcy filings as of February 26, 2021, versus February 29, 2020. Our Retail Bankruptcies Databank offers a more detailed list of US and UK retail companies, restaurants and gyms that have filed for bankruptcy since March 2020.Figure 6. 2021 Major US Retail Bankruptcies as of February 26, 2021 [wpdatatable id=780 table_view=regular]
*Belk exited bankruptcy one day after filing N/A – Not Available Source: Company reports/Coresight Research
Figure 7. 2020 Major US Retail Bankruptcies as of February 29, 2020 [wpdatatable id=781 table_view=regular]
*Fairway Market filed for bankruptcy for the second time after entering and exiting bankruptcy in 2016 N/A – Not Available Source: Company reports/Coresight Research Solstice Marketing Concepts Specialty sunglasses retailer Solstice Marketing Concepts filed for bankruptcy, having experienced a sales decline of more than 50% during the pandemic compared to 2019. The retailer has hired Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP as its legal counsel, RCS Real Estate Advisors to advise on all store leases and KCP Advisory Group LLC’s Jacen Dinoff as the Chief Restructuring Officer. The retailer operates 66 stores and an e-commerce site.
Other Major US Retail Opening Announcements in February 2021
- Amazon opened its third Illinois Amazon Fresh grocery store in Oak Lawn.
- Beauty retailer Ulta Beauty opened its second Manhattan store in Herald Square on February 26.
- Chocolatier Gertrude Hawk Chocolates opened a new store in Arena Hub Plaza, Pennsylvania on February 6.
- Grocery retailer Trader Joe’s announced the opening of two new stores in 2021.
- Grocery retailer Weis Markets opened a new store in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
- Mattress and bedding products retailer Tempur Sealy reported that it has opened one new store in 2021.
- Macy’s-owned Bloomingdale’s announced plans to open a new small-format store named Bloomie’s in the coming fall season at Mosaic District in Fairfax, Virginia.
- Specialty retailer The Container Store reported that it will open two new stores in the US by the end of 2021.
- Supermarket chain The Giant Company will open two new Giant supermarket stores in Philadelphia in 2021.