Coresight Research tracks news about store closures and openings, bankruptcies and management changes. Our Weekly Store Openings and Closures Tracker focuses on department stores and specialty retail, including, but not limited to, softlines, hardlines, consumer electronics, grocery and furniture.

2018 Major US Store Openings and Closures

Year-to-date 2018, the number of US store closure announcements stands at 4,146 and the number of store openings is 2,042.

What Is Happening this Week in the US?

Sears and Kmart to Close 10 More Stores

Sears initially provided a list of 63 stores that it planned to begin closing in early September. The list was updated to 68 stores in early June and 10 more stores were added to the list last week. Liquidation sales of these stores will begin as early as July 13.

Macy’s Plans 55 New Bluemercury Stores

Macy’s has said it will open about 55 new Bluemercury stores. It acquired the cosmetics brand for $210 million in 2015. The company expects to open approximately 25 Bluemercury freestanding stores in 2018 and around another 30 freestanding stores and locations within Macy’s stores in 2019.

Abercrombie & Fitch to Use Campus Stores as Test Labs

Abercrombie & Fitch will open two college-campus-area stores in August—one at the Gateway-University District, near Ohio State University, and one near the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. The retailer will use the stores to gather more information about its target audience.

Aki-Home Seeks to Open More US Stores

Aki-Home plans to eventually open hundreds of stores in the US to top up its current six stores in Southern California. The retailer has not disclosed the actual number of its store openings in the US.

Non-Store-Closure News

BuildDirect Stacks New Team with Ex-Amazon Executives

Vancouver-based online home improvement retailer BuildDirect on Monday said that newly arrived CEO Dan Park has built up its new leadership team and packed it with a few of his former colleagues at Amazon. This includes Ken Stanick, previously Director of Sales & Channels at Amazon Business, who was appointed Chief Revenue Officer.

Coresight Research has calendarized store openings/closures to attribute them to the year in which they fell or are expected to fall. This involves an estimation for some retailers. These include: Ascena, Gap, Lord & Taylor, The Children’s Place and Vera Bradley. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

Coresight Research has calendarized store openings/closures to attribute them to the year in which they fell or are expected to fall. This involves an estimation for some retailers. These include: Aldi, Costco, Gap, Lidl, Mackage. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

2017 Major US Store Openings and Closures

Coresight Research has calendarized store openings/closures to attribute them to the year in which they fell or are expected to fall. This involves an estimation for some retailers. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

Coresight Research has calendarized store openings/closures to attribute them to the year in which they fell or are expected to fall. This involves an estimation for some retailers. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

2017 Major US Store Bankruptcies

Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

2018 Major UK Store Openings and Closures

Year to date in the UK, there have been 956 store closure announcements and 625 store opening announcements.

What Is Happening this Week in the UK?

Jacadi to Close Five Stores

French childrenswear brand Jacadi plans to close its five UK stores by the end of August, after a dispute with its franchisee. The five stores are all located in London or its suburbs, including the King’s Road in Chelsea, Battersea, Hampstead, Westfield London and Richmond.

Homebase Has Shut 17 Stores, Possibly Launching a CVA

British home improvement retailer Homebase is reportedly looking at the possibility of launching a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that could see up to 40 stores shut and hundreds of staff made redundant. Homebase has shut 17 stores since February, with 23 more earmarked for possible closure.

Coresight Research has calendarized store openings/closures to attribute them to the year in which they fell or are expected to fall. This involves an estimation for some retailers. These include: Argos, B&M, M&S, Monsoon Accessorize, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

Coresight Research has calendarized store openings/closures to attribute them to the year in which they fell or are expected to fall. This involves an estimation for some retailers. These include: Aldi, B&M, Foot Asylum, Greggs, Hema, Heron Foods, House, Lidl, M&Co, M&S, Pets at Home and Smiggle. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

2017 Major UK Store Openings and Closures

*Total includes a small number of retailers that each announced one store closure and are not charted. Coresight Research has calendarized store openings/closures to attribute them to the year in which they fell or are expected to fall. This involves an estimation for some retailers. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

*Total includes a small number of retailers that each announced one store opening and are not charted. Coresight Research has calendarized store openings/closures to attribute them to the year in which they fell or are expected to fall. This involves an estimation for some retailers. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research