A Forever 21 Chapter 11 Would Add to Big-Box Lead in Stores Closures
Big-box store closures are already at 1,728, this year with possibly 200 more about to be added to that list.
The 1,728 is comprised of 695 Party City stores, 533 Joann’s locations, and at least 500 Big Lots doors. There’s a chance 200 more Big Lots locations could still close. A bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of 200 to 400 Big Lots stores to discount retailer Variety Wholesalers, Inc., but it isn’t clear yet what the final store tally will be that will survive the sale.
Forever 21 is expected to file its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection, with about 200 doors slated for closure, according to a Bloomberg report. And if Forever 21 can’t find a buyer for the operation, a liquidation would add at least another 150 stores to the list of doors to be shuttered. Not all of Forever 21 locations are big boxes, but even the mall locations are on the large size. The historic range is from 20,000 square feet to two-floor, 40,000 square feet units.
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According to the latest Coresight store closure tally, U.S. retailers thus far have announced 3,228 closures. As for the big-box retailers, the category alone at 1,728 doors accounts for more than half of the store closures to date in 2025. That tally could get worse, and not just because of a Forever 21 bankruptcy.
A Reuters story said that private equity firms, such as Apollo Global Management and Sycamore Partners, are kicking the tires at a possible bid for dollar store chain Family Dollar.
Dollar Tree Inc. closed on its $8.5 billion Family Dollar acquisition in 2015. But over the years, Dollar Tree could never figure out how to best integrate the operation. Nearly a year ago, Dollar Tree said it would put the banner up for sale. A few months later, Dollar Tree said it would shutter 970 Family Dollar locations. Six hundred locations went dark in the first half of 2024, with the remaining 370 set to close over the next several years as leases expire. And if a buyout firm or some other buyer inks a deal to acquire the Family Dollar banner, there’s a chance more locations could end up closing too. Currently, there are about 7,600 Family Dollar stores in operation, including stores that are still set to close when leases expire.
Big-box doors are not the only retail channel closing stores.
Department store retailer JCPenney is set to close 8 locations. The retailer merged with SPARC Group in January to form Catalyst Brands, which just cut its corporate headcount by 5 percent, or about 250 positions.
Macy’s Inc. said earlier this month that it will close 150 “underproductive” locations by next year. Sixty-six doors are currently in the process of holding sales to clear out inventory at those locations and should be completed by the end of March.
And Kohl’s Corp. said it too was downsizing, shutting down 27 locations that CEO Tom Kingsbury described as “underperforming.”
