The US

2019 Major US Store Closures and Openings Year to date in 2019, US retailers have announced they will close 7,673 stores and open 3,118. Coresight Research estimates US store closures could reach 12,000 by the end of 2019. By week 15 of 2019, year-to-date announced closures had already exceeded the total for all of 2018. We recorded 5,864 closures and 3,258 openings for the full year 2018. Our data represents closures and openings by calendar year.

What Is Happening This Week in the US

Walgreens to Shutter 200 Stores Pharmacy store chain Walgreens, a subsidiary of Walgreens Boots Alliance, has announced plans to shut 200 US stores as a part of the company’s cost management program. Although the company has stated the closures will commence from fall this year, it has not disclosed details regarding on the timeline. In a separate move, the company is expected to close around 195 stores by the end of August this year as per estimates under a previously announced store optimization plan. Coresight Research Insight: Walgreens has been redesigning stores with a beauty focus by moving the beauty section to the front and relegating candy and snack shelves — which usually command the space — to the back. It has also launched health initiatives, such as “Feel More Like You” which combines pharmacy, health and beauty services to help cancer patients and their caregivers manage the medical and physical changes that accompany cancer treatment. The closure of underperforming stores will allow Walgreens to divert further resources to such initiatives and introduce them to more locations.

A’gaci Files for Bankruptcy, Plans to Shut All 54 Stores

Women’s fashion retailer A’gaci has filed for bankruptcy and plans to shut all 54 stores that it currently operates. The company expects to complete most of the closures by August 31 and has already discontinued its e-commerce operations. The retailer had previously filed for bankruptcy in January 2018, but emerged out of it by August, in the same year.

Barneys New York Plans to Close 15 Stores Luxury department company Barneys New York has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to close 15 stores. The company will close five small stores and seven warehouse locations, as well as stores in Chicago, Las Vegas and Seattle. Following these closures, the retailer will be left with seven stores and two warehouse locations. The retailer has secured a financial lifeline giving it until late October to find a buyer, failing which it could commence liquidation which would see its remaining stores close permanently. Coresight Research Insight: Options for the luxury shopper to discover, shop and buy have multiplied online as many designer brands go directly to the consumer and disintermediate retailers. Weak store traffic trends and escalating real estate costs are eroding physical retail profit margins and retailers that sell brands available elsewhere are especially vulnerable. Sears Holdings to Close 26 More Stores Sears Holdings has announced it will close 21 large-format Sears and five Kmart stores in October 2019. The Sears Auto Centers at many of these stores will close in late August this year and liquidation sales will commence around August 15. The latest batch of closures comes on top of two previous rounds of closures that saw a total of 72 Sears and 48 Kmart stores cease operations. Avenue May Shutter 260 Stores Women’s plus-size retailer Avenue will shut all its 260 stores if it does not find a buyer by the end of September this year, according to the New York Post. We have not included this in the closures chart as these closures are unconfirmed and dependent on the retailer’s success in finding a buyer. Coresight Research Insight: Many specialty apparel retailers and fashion brands have added extended sizing to court the plus-size shopper and at the same time, grow their top line. Inclusivity is the expectation of today's shopper and as a result niche plus-size retailers are out of favor. [caption id="attachment_94495" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Coresight Research attributes store openings and closures to the year in which they occurred or are expected to occur. We estimate this for some retailers, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Athleta, Ascena Retail, Chico’s, Gap, Hibbett Sports, Old Navy Signet Jewelers, Tuesday Morning and Walgreens. Our closure estimates for Athleta, Gap, GNC, GIII and Old Navy are based on proportion of existing stores in the US. *Total includes a small number of retailers that each announced less than seven store openings and are not included in the chart.
**Ascena Retail excluding Dressbarn; these estimates were revised in week 24 from 400 to 120 based on closures announced in the company’s latest results announcement.
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption] [caption id="attachment_94438" align="aligncenter" width="700"] 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 Aldi, Five Below, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and Costco. Our estimate of store openings for Levi’s is based on proportion of existing stores in the US.
*Total includes a small number of retailers that each announced one store opening and are not included in the chart.
**Indochino openings refer to North America total openings, excluding one opening announced for the Greater Toronto Area.
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   2019 Major US Uncharted Openings and Closures The table below shows announced openings and closures that we have not included in our totals, as the companies did not provide detail on timing or location. [caption id="attachment_94439" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_94440" align="aligncenter" width="700"] *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_94441" align="aligncenter" width="700"] *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 Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Foot Action and SIX:O2 banners
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   2019 Major US Retail Bankruptcies [caption id="attachment_94480" align="aligncenter" width="700"] *A’gaci filed for bankruptcy for the second time after entering and exiting bankruptcy in 2018 
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   2018 Major US Retail Bankruptcies [caption id="attachment_94443" align="aligncenter" width="700"] *A’gaci emerged from bankruptcy in August 2018
**Mattress Firm emerged from Bankruptcy in November 2018
***Sears Holdings emerged from bankruptcy in January 2019
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 414 store closures and 549 store openings. Our data represents closures and openings by calendar year.

What Is Happening This Week in the UK

Sports Direct to Shut 39 House of Fraser Stores Sporting retailer Sports Direct plans to shutter 39 House of Fraser stores, according to the Financial Times. In August 2018, Sports Direct International plc acquired all assets of House of Fraser and subsequently closed five House of Fraser stores. As of April 28, 2019, House of Fraser operated 54 stores. The company did not divulge details regarding the closure timeline. [caption id="attachment_94444" align="aligncenter" width="700"] 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 B&M, Homebase, Laura Ashley and New Look
*Total includes a small number of retailers that each announced one or two store openings and are not included in the chart
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_94445" align="aligncenter" width="700"] 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 Iceland and Heron Foods
*Total includes a small number of retailers that each announced one or two store openings and are not included in the chart
Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   2019 Major UK Uncharted Openings and Closures [caption id="attachment_94446" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Company reports/Coresight Research[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_94447" align="aligncenter" width="700"] 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_94448" align="aligncenter" width="700"] 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, Iceland, 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.