By Jordan Valinsky, NCS
New York (NCS) — In 2025, customers mentioned farewell to plenty of well-known retailers.
Forever 21 didn’t stay as much as its identify. The celebrations ended at Party City. And all of it went incorrect for Rite Aid.
These shops have been simply a number of the roughly 8,200 places that shut their doorways this 12 months, about 12% greater than 2024, in accordance with Coresight Research.
Slumping consumer sentiment, poor funds and years of shifting procuring habits have left a few of these growing old chains in a lurch. Some are headed down a path to bankruptcy as Americans dial again on discretionary purchases as inflation stays a cussed downside.
Here are a number of the main chains that went bust in 2025:
Forever 21
Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy (for the second time) in March and closed down its US operations, shuttering about 500 shops.
The firm blamed “economic challenges impacting our core customers” – specifically, cost-sensitive teenagers shifting their allegiance to competitors – in addition to the rise of overseas quick trend firms.
Forever 21 was unable to maintain up with Chinese e-commerce giants akin to Shein and Temu, particularly as online shopping boomed throughout the pandemic. The firm was additionally delicate to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports into the United States.
Joann
Fabrics and crafts retailer Joann closed up store in February, ending greater than 80 years in enterprise.
The closure got here following its second Chapter 11 filing inside a 12 months, with the corporate blaming sluggish gross sales, stock issues and a heavy debt load.
The “last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment, which, coupled with our current financial position and constrained inventory levels, forced us to take this step,” its former CEO Michael Prendergast mentioned in a January press launch.
However, the model identify and a few of Joann’s beloved personal labels have been recently revived by Michaels with a “store within a store” idea.
Party City
Party City first introduced it was going out of enterprise about a year ago, however absolutely closed its shops in February. The chain, greatest identified for balloons and different celebratory provides, had been in enterprise for 40 years.
The retailer beforehand declared bankruptcy in January 2023 and struggled with debt, carrying greater than $1.7 billion at one level.
Party City additionally confronted plenty of competitors – from e-commerce websites, pop-up ideas like Spirit Halloween and big-box retailers like Walmart and Target.
Rite Aid
Rite Aid, as soon as certainly one of America’s greatest pharmacy chains, closed its doors in October following its second chapter in the previous few years.
The full-service pharmacy first opened in 1962 and have become well-known for its cult-favorite ice cream model, Thrifty, which was offered off throughout the retailer’s chapter proceedings.
Rite Aid first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, largely due to competitors from greater chains and its debt pile. That debt topped $4 billion attributable to costly authorized battles for allegedly filling illegal opioid prescriptions.
Rite Aid emerged from that first chapter in September 2024, having slashed $2 billion in debt, closed 500 shops and secured $2.5 billion in funds to keep up operations.
But, months later, Rite Aid’s retailer depend dwindled and rivals like CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens purchased up its pharmacy operations.
The-NCS-Wire
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