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 4,478 and the number of store openings is 2,372.

What Is Happening this Week in the US?

L’Occitane to Open New Flagship Store in New York Premium beauty brand L’Occitane will open its new store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in New York City. The store has dedicated an area to social media where it will feature a live video feed of its US Instagram account. Shoppers can also get a massage at the retailer’s new concept store. This is the second concept store opened by L’Occitane; the other one is in Paris. Whole Foods Market to Open New Store in Houston Whole Foods Market opened its first Houston, Texas 365 concept store on August 22. The 365 concept is budget oriented and the company has opened only 10 such stores nationally. The new store offers natural and organic products at low prices as well as has two restaurants. Land’s End Opens First Store in New York Clothing and home decor company Land’s End has opened its first New York store. The company plans to shut its shops-in-shops in Sears stores and aims to open new outlet stores. Land’s End has opened three stores out of the four to six stores that it plans to open this year. Lowe’s to Close All Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Lowe’s announced that it will permanently shut all 99 stores of its subsidiary Orchard Supply Hardware by the end of the fiscal year. Lowe’s said that it plans “to exit these operations in order to focus on its core home improvement business.” In 2013, Orchard filed for bankruptcy and was bought by Lowe’s.

Non-Store-Closure News

Best Buy Announces Acquisition of GreatCall Inc. Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy announced on August 15 that it is acquiring GreatCall Inc., a health services provider, for $800 million. This acquisition will help Best Buy to expand its services in the healthcare sector. The company plans to use its technology to improve the quality of life of the aging population. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Best Buy’s fiscal 2019 third quarter.

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, Casper Sleep, Costco, Gap, Lidl and Mackage. Store-opening numbers for Fabletics have not been calendarized as the retailer did not provide a time frame. Source: Company reports/Coresight Research

Year-to-Date 2018 Major US Store Bankruptcies

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 1,195 store closure announcements and 692 store opening announcements.

What Is Happening this Week in the UK?

House of Fraser London Flagship Store to Remain Open House of Fraser’s flagship store on Oxford Street, London, has been saved from closure. The news follows the negotiations between the landlord and House of Fraser’s new owner, Sports Direct. Mike Ashley, the owner of Sports Direct, aims to keep 80% of House of Fraser stores open. The expected closure of 12 House of Fraser stores is lower than the previously planned total of 31, and we have revised our total in the graph below. Arket Opens Its First Store in Liverpool H&M has opened an 8,600 sq. ft. Arket store in Liverpool One; this is the fifth store since the brand was launched in the UK last year.

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, Homebase, 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 such as Laura Ashley. 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