New York
—
In 2025, consumers mentioned farewell to a lot of well-known retailers.
Forever 21 didn’t reside as much as its identify. The celebrations ended at Party City. And all of it went fallacious for Rite Aid.
These shops had been simply among the roughly 8,200 areas 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 buying 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 among the main chains that went bust in 2025:
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 vogue corporations.
Forever 21 was unable to maintain up with Chinese e-commerce giants resembling Shein and Temu, particularly as online shopping boomed in the course of the pandemic. The firm was additionally delicate to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports into the United States.
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 had been recently revived by Michaels with a “store within a store” idea.
Party City first introduced it was going out of enterprise about a year ago, however absolutely closed its shops in February. The chain, greatest recognized 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 a number of competitors – from e-commerce websites, pop-up ideas like Spirit Halloween and big-box retailers like Walmart and Target.
Rite Aid, as soon as certainly one of America’s largest 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 bought off in the course of the retailer’s chapter proceedings.
Rite Aid first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, largely due to competitors from larger chains and its debt pile. That debt topped $4 billion resulting from 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 rely dwindled and opponents like CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens purchased up its pharmacy operations.