(KTLA) – This year was rough for many established retailers that struggled to emerge from the pandemic or were impacted by other economic factors, such as high mortgage rates. Here are some that closed for good in 2023.
Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond, once a go-to for all imaginable home accessories, filed for bankruptcy in April and promptly closed all 896 of its brick-and-mortar stores nationwide, including its Buy Buy Baby brand. Now under new ownership, Bed Bath & Beyond still serves customers through its relaunched website.
Tuesday Morning
Tuesday Morning, a discount home retailer that once had 700 locations in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy in February and eventually closed all stores.
Z Gallerie
California-based Z Gallerie announced in early November that it, too, was closing all stores and going online only. The home décor and furniture retailer once had 54 locations.
Christmas Tree Shops
Christmas Tree Shops once had 72 stores nationwide specializing in home furnishing and holiday-themed decor. It went bankrupt in May and closed up shop in August.
Shoe City
Shoe City went belly up in May after filing for Chapter 11 protection. The Baltimore-based footwear chain had been in business for 74 years.
Other large retailers, including Foot Locker, Bath & Body Works, Gap, Banana Republic, Party City, Target and Walmart, along with pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid also shuttered hundreds of U.S. locations.
NewsNation affiliate KTLA consumer reporter David Lazarus says many big box stores continue to struggle with adapting to the times.
“Store closures since the pandemic reflect the ongoing impact of e-commerce on brick-and-mortar retailers,” says Lazarus. “As consumers grow increasingly comfortable buying things online, the overhead of a physical store becomes a liability for merchants trying to compete with lower digital prices.”
The elephant in the room, Lazarus says, is of course Amazon.
“The retailers facing the most trouble, such as Bed Bath & Beyond, are the ones specializing in goods you don’t need to try on before buying. They’re now living in Amazon’s world, and Amazon can sell almost anything for less.”
Another venerable retailer, Macy’s, has been closing stores for several years as part of its restructuring plan. Now, an investor group has reportedly made a $5.8 billion offer to take the company private.
“The plan, if the deal goes through, is to take the company off the stock market and to seek economies of scale and efficiencies that make it more competitive online,” Lazarus says. “Going forward, brick-and-mortar retailers will keep scrambling to negotiate lower rents and seek other ways to cut costs. Or they’ll go private so they don’t have investors breathing down their necks. That’s apparently the plan with Macy’s.”