According to Patch.com, the following large national chains closed dozens of their U.S. locations in 2021: Bloomingdales, Disney Store, Goodwill, Macy‘s, Walgreens, and Chuck E. Cheese. Those that folded last year include Fry’s Electronics, and Godiva’s retail outlets. Those chains that Patch lists to be fully closed by the end of 2022 include Bed, Bath and Beyond, and Francescas.
See here for locally-targeted December, 2021 Patch.com article, “10 California Retailers Who Closed Locations This Year,” that also elaborates on said retailers’ current national standings as disclosed above. As to GameStop, a company that appears to be rallying as of mid-2021, the chain nonetheless shuttered hundreds of stores in the prior two years. See here for Reuters report, “Flush From Reddit Rally, GameStop Plots Store Revival.” For now, 2022 remains in question.
For a larger list of well-established chains that closed many locations in 2021, see here for Al.com’s list, “Retail Store Closings 2021: The List of Chains That Closed Stores This Year.” This list further includes American Eagle, Banana Republic and Gap, Christopher & Banks, CVS, DSW, Express, JC Penney, Justice, Starbucks, Children’s Place, and Victoria’s Secret. In most instances, dozens if not hundreds of locations, with more to follow in 2022.
As disclosed in both articles, the Covid-impacted economy overall proved far more deleterious to the health of national brands in 2020 than in 2021.
The issue now becomes to what degree 2022’s rising inflation levels will impact prior plans, as many of the aforementioned chains have already announced specific numbers of closures for the current year.
Of the above companies, as discussed in the articles, many of those listed have filed for some sort of bankruptcy protection. Some, such as Christopher & Banks and JC Penny filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. In response, the former closed 400 stores early in 2021, as the latter closed 170 stores in 2020 and still more in 2021.
See here for December, 2021 blog, “Companies That Have Filed For Bankruptcy Since the Pandemic Began,” from Cheapism.com. For further perspective, CNN Business published, “The 30 Retailers and Restaurant Chains That Filed for Bankruptcy in 2020.” See here. For still more information on the topic, ”The Restaurants Have Filed For Bankruptcy and Many More are At Risk,” was published by Yahoo Finance in January, 2021. See here for article, which includes information on Papa John’s, Dominos Pizza, and others that have so filed.