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

The US

2019 Major US Store Closures and Openings Year to date in 2019, US retailers have announced they will close 5,399 stores and open 2,396. This compares to 5,726 closures and 3,243 openings for the full year 2018. Our data represent closures and openings by calendar year.

What Is Happening This Week in the US

The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards Officially Open The $25 billion Hudson Yards project officially opened its 720,000 square feet of retail space, called the Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards, on March 15. The development includes office, retail, entertainment, lodging and residential space. The development is home to HQ offices for L’Oréal US and Tapestry. The retail space includes NYC’s first Neiman Marcus store (although wholly owned Bergdorf Goodman has a large store in Manhattan) and an entire floor devoted to digitally native retail brands. Shopko to Liquidate General merchandise chain Shopko, which filed for bankruptcy in January, has announced plans to liquidate as it has failed to find a buyer. The retailer will shut 120 stores in addition to the 251 store closures it announced earlier this year. Shopko is still evaluating the operability of Shopko Optical, which is still functioning as its other businesses prepare to liquidate. Ikea to Open New Format Store in Manhattan                                                                                                                               Furniture retailer Ikea announced it will open its first US city-center store on April 15, in Manhattan. The 17,350-square-foot store will be dedicated to personalized designs and planning services with a focus on small-space living. Leontyne Sykes, COO at Ikea Retail US said, “We hope the Planning Studio will serv­­e as a convenient destination for design expertise and stylish, multi-functional home furnishing solutions.” Non-Store-Closure News Shoes of Prey Ceases Operations Custom footwear retailer Shoes of Prey has ceased operations worldwide. The retailer previously partnered with American department store Nordstrom to offer in-store design studios that were equipped with digital wall displays and offered interactive tablets to enable the customer to self-design shoes. The company’s founder Michael Fox said that mass consumers are less interested in creating and want to be inspired and shown what to wear. The company cited operational complexities, high fixed costs and high unit costs as the main reasons for shutting operations. Coresight Research Insight: The lengthy time (up to eight weeks) between self-design and finished product was a factor in Shoes of Prey’s demise as immediate gratification is important for many fashion shoppers, and the brand and the novelty factor weren’t strong enough to offset the wait. We believe it was difficult for the brand to create sustainable customer lifetime value.   [caption id="attachment_81538" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_81539" align="aligncenter" width="800"] *Total includes retailers that have announced multi-year store opening plans which have been included based on an estimate for each year, which includes Aldi’s five-year plan for store openings through 2022
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research [/caption]   [caption id="attachment_81540" align="aligncenter" width="800"] *Total includes a small number of retailers that each announced between one and five store closures and are not included in the chart above.
**Foot Locker includes the Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Foot Action and SIX:O2 banners.
***Urban Outfitters includes the Urban Outfitters, Free People and Anthropologie banners
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research [/caption]   [caption id="attachment_81579" align="aligncenter" width="800"] *Total includes a small number of retailers that each announced one or two store openings and are not included in the chart above
** Urban Outfitters includes the Urban Outfitters, Free People and Anthropologie banners
*** Foot Locker includes the Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Foot Action and SIX:O2 banners.
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   2019 Major US Store Bankruptcies [caption id="attachment_81542" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   2018 Major US Store Bankruptcies [caption id="attachment_81545" align="aligncenter" width="800"] *A’gaci emerged from bankruptcy in August 2018
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research [/caption]

The UK

2019 Major UK Store Closures and Openings Year to date in the UK, major retailers have announced 310 store closures and 327 store openings. Our data represent closures and openings by calendar year.

What Is Happening This Week in the UK

Office Outlet Enters Administration, Puts 1,200 Jobs at Risk Stationery chain Office Outlet, which operated as the UK branch of US-based Staples until it was sold to a private equity firm in 2016, has fallen into administration, putting 1,200 jobs at risk. The collapse comes after management undertook a company voluntary agreement (CVA) in August 2018 to offload unprofitable stores and cut its rent bills. All 90 stores will continue to operate while the business is marketed to potential buyers. Office Outlet CEO Chris Yates said: “Over the last two years the business has been transformed from the heavily loss-making old Staples business to a near-break-even modern multichannel retailer. However, additional growth capital was required to continue delivery of the next stage of the management buyout business plan.” Links of London Calls in Advisers Jewelry retailer Links of London has reportedly called in advisers from accounting firm Deloitte while it considers launching a CVA to reduce rents. This could place 500 jobs at risk. Links of London is owned by Greek retailer Folli Follie. B&Q Owner Kingfisher Plans to Close 15 Stores by 2020 B&Q owner Kingfisher has announced it plans to close 15 underperforming stores over the next two years. 11 of the 15 stores are set for closure in France while the company provided no detail on the remaining four stores. The 15 stores are a combination of owned and leased properties and the company expects to cover the costs of exits of leased stores from the proceeds from the sale of the stores it owns. Due to the uncertainty around the location of the four further possible closures, we have not included those four in our tracker. [caption id="attachment_81546" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Coresight Research attributes store openings and closures to the year in which they occurred or are expected to occur. We estimate this information for some retailers including Debenhams, Homebase, Laura Ashley and New Look
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research [/caption]   [caption id="attachment_81548" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Source: Company reports/Coresight Research [/caption]   [caption id="attachment_81550" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Coresight Research attributes store openings and closures to the year in which they occurred or are expected to occur, and we estimate this information for some retailers, including Argos, B&M, Homebase, M&S, Monsoon Accessorize, Sainsbury’s and Tesco
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research [/caption]   [caption id="attachment_81552" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Coresight Research attributes store openings and closures to the year in which they occurred or are expected to occur, and we estimate this information for some retailers, including B&M, Footasylum, Greggs, Habitat, Hema, Heron Foods, House, Lidl, M&Co, M&S, Pets at Home, Sainsbury’s and Smiggle
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research [/caption]   Notes Figures represent store openings and closures that occurred, or are expected to occur, in the respective calendar years. For some retailers, store opening and closure numbers are estimated, including from part-year data, global figures or announced closure/opening programs that span multiple years. Estimates are updated as companies announce details. Figures for openings and closures are gross.