They are announcing the closure of these US stores in 2024.
2023 was not the best year for various US companies in terms of financial profits.
Losses, increased online shopping, high inflation and other reasons have led to the closure of physical stores. This phenomenon has been classified as a retail crisis or apocalypse.
The new year also sees a trend of increased online sales and some companies closing stores.
This will give more opportunities to retailers, and stores will suffer more from a lack of customers.
Walmart, TJ Maxx and Marshalls, Dollar Tree, RiteAid, CVS, Walgreens and others have announced the closure of some of their locations.
High costs of rent, salaries, etc., as well as theft at businesses, are factors influencing store closures. This measure is associated with poor business performance.
Walmart, the retail giant, began closing in several states in 2023, with more to follow in 2024.
TJ Maxx and Marshalls plan to close three stores in January 2024: two in New York and one in Illinois. Its workers will be transferred to nearby stores.
Another of the most popular discount chains is Dollar Tree Inc. Since last year, it announced the permanent closure of some of its underperforming stores due to inflation in the country.
The pharmaceutical industry has also been hit. Rite Aid announced it will close 154 stores after filing for bankruptcy. Meanwhile; CVS announced several years ago that it would close 900 branches by 2022 and 2024.
Walgreens is another major pharmacy chain. For the first half of 2023, the company reported an 8.6% increase in retail sales. However, after declaring bankruptcy, it will close permanently.
Some consequences of the retail crisis
This crisis has given rise to a number of challenges and changes in business models. To be very profitable and attractive to retailers experiencing financial difficulties.
This was an opportunity to adjust the size of the retail network, cut costs and reduce expenses so as not to go bankrupt.
But it also had a negative impact on other people. For workers, unemployment and transition to other dependencies. For clients, moving to other, more distant places to meet their needs, for example, for medicines.
This phenomenon is expected to continue to intensify in the coming years. About 50,000 stores in the United States will close by 2027, according to investment bank UBS.