The American economy experiences an unprecedented rate of store closures. Only by June this year, about 5,900 locations are scheduled for closure, with many more in the next months. The number of new stores is far lower, as well as the retail square footage reserved for them.
As of the end of June 2025, 5,820 stores had closed, with a total area of 124 million square feet, according to the findings by Coresight Research. During the same period, only 3,950 openings covering 74.6 million square feet of retail space were announced. This gap reflects what Coresight refers to as the period of real estate instability, when long-term shifts in consumer behavior are combined with immediate economic pressure.
According to the company’s forecast, a record 15,100 store closures will be expected by the end of 2025, more than doubling the 7,321 closures that happened last year and slowly making their way to almost 9,900 closures that occurred in 2020. By the end of 2025, they expect 5,750 new stores to be opened.
Compared to the mid-year rates from 2024, the pace of closing has greatly accelerated. Only 3,485 closures were recorded at the same time in 2024, so this year’s total is already higher by about 65%. The already high numbers of closures are getting even higher, while store opening dynamics stays the same from year to year.
Top Retailers Driving Closures
The two most notable brands responsible for a huge footage of retail space being vacated are At Home and Rite Aid. Philadelphia-based Rite Aid is planning to close 490 locations, making it the retailer with the most closures and the steepest reduction in square footage by about 6.72 million square feet. Furthermore, Texas-based company At Home will shut down 28 stores, reducing retail space by 2.71 million square feet.
The continuing economic crisis that has troubled business owners since 2020 is the backdrop against which the closures take place. Retailers have to deal with high inflation, increasing interest rates, unfavorable tariffs, and, on top of it all, wary consumers. Companies that were already vulnerable are especially at risk of closing down completely. Today, it’s not the question of whether or not they will thrive, but whether or not they will survive.
Despite the growing number of closures and many businesses going online, company owners still need physical retail space. According to CoStar, the retail vacancy rate in the US is quite low, 4.35%. A managing director at GlobalData, Neil Saunders, says that many of the emptied spaces are being quickly released. He feels that the idea of brick-and-mortar stores being dead is overstated nowadays.
Head of global retail research at Coresight, John Mercer, agrees with this assessment, pointing out that the company has never subscribed to the idea that physical stores are “dead.” However, he acknowledges that the retail industry is going through a “rough patch” with periodic economic swings.
Mercer noted that despite the fact that, in general, closures have increased, there are fewer bankruptcies in 2025. As of week 26, if you compare the same period from 2024, the number of closures due to bankruptcy has gone down from 25 to 14. Even so, such bankruptcies heavily influence our economy. Among the most financially stressed retailers who have closed the most stores this year are Big Lots, Joann, Party City, Forever 21, and Rite Aid (many of them are on the verge of bankruptcy now).
And even if the 15,100 milestone won’t be officially reached, Mercer warned that more closures will be expected in the second half of this year. Coresight is going to release a mid-year report comparing closures to their full-year business forecast.
Retailers Still Expanding
At the same time, a few retailers continue to grow. In particular, Kroger, Daiso, Ulta Beauty, and Casey’s are the top four companies contributing the most new retail square footage. Casey’s is the most ambitious of the four and plans to open 146 new locations (507,500 square feet in total). And Kroger plans to close 23 old locations and open 29 new ones instead. As you can see, the crisis affects businesses differently, and some of them not only continue to thrive, but develop even more. If you’re a business owner, especially one creating custom bracelets, we wish you to be one of them. After all, many people found a way to multiply their assets even during the pandemic and came out stronger and smarter on the other end.
