If you have a favorite store, you should probably visit it soon since some of the biggest, most popular retail chains in the U.S. are rapidly decaying, and many locations are being shuttered in this very moment. According to UBS, over 50,000 stores are on retailers’ chopping block, and that could completely change America’s economic landscape.
Never before in history have conditions have been so turbulent for companies, and even big names like Rite Aid, Amazon Fresh and Big Lots! are taking extreme measures to try to keep their business alive. However, retail experts seriously doubt the ability of some of this chains to survive the imminent retail collapse.
For example, Best Buy has been hanging by a thread over the past few years and quietly closing more stores each year. Since 2019, over 80 Best Buy locations have disappeared from sight. And earlier this year, the chain announced plans “to close a higher number of stores.” The company did not reveal the total number of closings.
Media reports suggest that at least 600 locations are in financial distress. That is over half of the retailer’s footprint in the U.S. In a BizJournals.com article, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry predicted that supply chain issues, rising labor costs, and continued economic challenges could lead to a major manufacturing slowdown that could ripple through the markets, she said. Best Buy executives said they expected business to continue to taper. Right now, they’re putting their best strategies forward in an attempt to keep the business alive, or at least, part of it.
Similarly, Dollar General is rapidly disappearing from U.S. cities. The discount retailer recently confirmed that it is closing several locations in California, Colorado, Indiana, and Ohio. And the reason may also be the catalyst that drives the entire chain into bankruptcy. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Dollar General continues to expose workers to unsafe conditions.
The U.S. Department inspected a large number of locations and cataloged many serious health safety violations Dollar General has refused to correct. Since 2017, OSHA has issued more than $15 million in fines and cited Dollar General in more than 180 inspections nationwide for numerous “willful, repeat and alarming workplace safety violations related to unsafe conditions.”
“Exposing employees and others to these hazards can be dangerous, especially in an emergency,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer in Atlanta. “Dollar General is well aware of federal requirements, but they continue to ignore their legal responsibilities to protect their employees at stores throughout the nation.”
The struggling company is now facing another millionaire lawsuit – one that can literally push it over the edge.
At this point, retailers must prove their worth to U.S. customers and show why they deserve a spot in this increasingly competitive industry. Only the best-positioned brands will be able to navigate through the crisis that is developing across the sector, and many will likely die out before the year ends.
The stakes are incredibly high, and no one knows what may happen next in the industry, so take the opportunity to go to your favorite store before a black swan event occurs, drastically changing the scenario from bad to completely disastrous. That’s why in today’s video, we compiled a series of retail stores that are at risk of going dark for good in the coming weeks and months, and some that are already liquidating all of their assets and saying farewell for their customers.
Here’s the list:
- Big Lots!
- Rite Aid
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Party City
- Dollar General
- Tuesday Morning
- CVS
- Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh
- Nordstrom
- Best Buy
- The Children’s Place
- Corner Bakery
- Mattress Firm
- Kirkland’s
- Express
Video and write-up cross-posted from Epic Economist with minor edits.
Big Lots, and CVS both drove their prices so ridiculously high for their brand, that its no wonder. CVS wants 3x the money for the generic Motrin that WalMart charges, and its the same across the board on all their products. 3 times I walked into a CVS and walked out empty handed because I wouldn’t be price gouged for a product that Walgreens sells next door for half the price and comparable quality. Big Lots was a discount store, then started charging premium prices for low quality furniture, then banked their existence on it… So sorry, Just like the federal government, bad management decisions repeated long enough will eventually collapse your brand. When Stupid is elevated to the level of leader, you are lead right into a sinkhole, and corporate America, and American government have been lead by stupid way too long. Reap what you sow.
Agree. Just yesterday I went to CVS to get a bottle of vitamin C tablets. Not only was the price outrageous ($13.94 for 500 tablets), I was treated poorly by the employee. I walked out, went to Walmart, got the same brand and quantity for $4.88.
Easy decision.
I didn’t like what happened to Big Lots. They have more furniture then food, which means I won’t shop there often. How many times a year does the same family buy furniture. I used to be a regular shopper until they changed and became more about furniture then food.
exactly
You might want to rethink Dollar General.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DG/financials?p=DG
Biden did that!
I know CVS is building new stores, so I am not sure if they are going under just yet.
This is all part of the plan. Squeeze out smaller companies through onerous regulations and government controls so only the ESG mega corporations remain. The Fed is in the process of adopting a crypto currency with the goal of doing away with hard currency. The net result, we will have to be “good citizens” (good “social credit score”) to get “permission” from the government to purchase our staples. After all, the Fed will control the crypto currency won’t they? In addition, we’ll have to buy whatever is offered because there won’t be any competition per this article. This is what’s happening in China. Welcome to the “democracy” the Uni-Party is so afraid of loosing.
Not happy till Walmart makes the list.
there are a lot of commercial sites not opened because of the lack of some particular item, or a lag in supply chain. these stores may have been started before the bottom fell out.
You have no understanding of CVS’s business model if you think they’re in danger of going under. I wish they were. They’re driving the cost of drugs up as the biggest PBM in the nation. They also own Aetna. So they steer massive amounts of patients to themselves. Their retail footprint has been diminishing as to how important it is to their financial health for over a decade. They are now 100% a too big to fail healthcare entity that would get a govt bailout when things go wrong.
The only place Dollar General is going is in areas that Walmart can’t and won’t go. DG isn’t anywhere near bankruptcy.