ACROSS ILLINOIS — All has not been merry and bright for retailers this past year.

In 2024, more than 7,100 stores closed across the country through November, which is a 69% jump in closures compared to the same time period last year, according to data from research firm CoreSight. From discount retailers, like Family Dollar, Big Lots and Rue21, to drug stores, like CVS and Walgreens, companies continued to struggle this past year due to shifts in consumer shopping habits.

Macy's recently announced plans to close 65 stores by the end of the year, with plans to shutter after the holidays. Rue21, 7-Eleven, and Party City also made 2024's unfortunate list of company's forced to ax the most stores.

Competition from big-box retailers, like Walmart and Target, leading to smaller chains deciding to shutter some, or all, of their stores.

Lingering effects from the pandemic, which continue to affect consumer behavior and lead to the closure of many under-performing stores.

Here is a closer look at the businesses most affected by closures in 2024.

MACY'S

The iconic department store plans to close 65 stores by the end of the year, according to media reports. It's unclear at this point which stores, including which Illinois stores, will close — if any.

But the closures should happen after the holidays, according to company representatives.

Earlier in the year, company representatives announced a plan to close 150 stores by 2025. Initially, they said 50 stores would close by the end of this year, but in recent weeks, that number has changed to 65 as Macy's focuses on "luxury growth" and shutters its underperforming stores.

Meanwhile, Macy's plans to open 15 higher-end Bloomingdale's stores and 30 Blue Mercury cosmetic locations as part of its strategy to shift its focus to luxury brands.

FAMILY DOLLAR, DOLLAR TREE

In the U.S., Family Dollar closed 677 stores in 2024. This past year, the discount retailer had 112 stores in Illinois.
More closures are expected in 2025, with 370 Family Dollar stores expected to shutter.

Most items in Family Dollar stores are under $10. The store sells bargain goods including household cleaners, foods, health and beauty products, toys and clothes. The retailer has struggled in recent years and was bought by Dollar Tree in 2015.
Part of the reasons for the closures comes from issues stemming from years of mismanagement and poor conditions at the stores, according to media reports. Earlier this year, the company was fined $40 million for a rat infestation at a warehouse that lead to hundreds of stores temporarily closing.
Patch.com reached out to a media representative from Family Dollar Monday to request information on the exact number of stores that closed, or will be closing, in Illinois in 2024 but never heard back.

CVS HEALTH

In 2024, CVS announced plans to close about 300 stores. This comes after two years of widespread closures, with about 600 CVS stores shuttering across the U.S., according to USA Today.

While a list of which stores will, or have closed, was never released, CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault shared with Patch earlier this month some of the reasons behind the closures.

"Store closure decisions are based on several factors, including population shifts, consumer buying patterns, store and pharmacy density, pharmacy care access, and community health needs," CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault told Patch. "We're focused on ensuring we have the right kinds of stores and the right number of stores in the right locations."

Other reasons behind the CVS closures include: shoplifting, lower reimbursement rates for prescription drugs and competition from big box stores and online sites, like Amazon.

WALGREENS

More than 1,200 Walgreens stores will close over the next three years as the struggling drugstore chain headquartered in Deerfield attempts to complete a successful financial turnaround. The company announced in October that about 500 of the closures would occur in the current fiscal year, which began in September.

Walgreens has not revealed which locations will close. The chain has more than 8,500 stores in the United States and nearly 550 in Illinois, including more than 100 in Chicago, according to the web data company ScrapeHero.

The closures were announced as the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $3 billion. Still, Walgreens officials remained optimistic about the chain's long-term survival prospects.

"This turnaround will take time, but we are confident it will yield significant financial and consumer benefits over the long term," Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said in a statement.

CNN is reporting drug stores, including Walgreens and CVS, have been forced to close stores after overextending in the 1990s and 2000s as a way to drive out competitors and draw in more costumers.

BIG LOTS

Big Lots is preparing to close all its stores — including its 17 remaining Illinois locations — after filing for bankruptcy, the retailer said earlier this month. Going out of business sales are expected at all remaining Big Lots stores, which sell discounted furniture and home goods.

A planned sale to Nexus Capital Management has failed, a news release said, but Big Lots executives said they still hope to complete a sale by early January. As of Thursday, a total of 963 Big Lots stores remained nationwide.

PARTY CITY

Party City announced last week it was going out of business and would close all of its remaining stores in Illinois and elsewhere, ending its 40-year reign as the go-to party supplier in the country.

The move was expected. Several news outlets have reported the company was on the verge of collapse and had plans for its second bankruptcy filing in two years.

The Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based party supply and craft retailer emerged from its first bankruptcy in September 2023 with $800 million in debt on the balance sheets that it cannot overcome, Bloomberg News reported.

The chain was hit hard when people stopped having parties during the COVID-19 pandemic and has struggled since with supply chain issues and inflation. The company also has said a helium shortage hurt its business. The retailer also faces growing competition from big-box retailers such as Walmart and Target and holiday pop-up stores such as Spirit Halloween.

RUE 21

Another discount retailer, Rue21, closed all its stores this past year, including 20 in Illinois, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in spring, according to reports.

The Pennsylvania-based company had 540 locations and $194.4 million in debt, and had tried to sell its business but apparently found no buyer who would pay more than the expected earnings from liquidation and closing, Reuters reported.

Rue21 had previously filed for bankruptcy twice, in 2003 and 2017, according to Reuters, which reported the company had continued to struggle in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and increased interest in online shopping.

“Rue21 does not have a very compelling proposition and is losing customers to other retailers and to cheaper and more interesting fashion platforms like Shein,” retail analyst Neil Saunders told CNN. “There is still a big question mark over whether the retail market needs Rue21 to exist.”
The company’s stores will close in four to six weeks and will be preceded by going-out-of-business sales, CNN reported.

The stores that closed in Illinois were located in Aurora (where there are two), Bloomington, Calumet City, Carbondale, Chicago Ridge, Cicero, Fairview Heights, Gurnee, Joliet, Lincolnwood, Machesney Park, Mattoon, Moline, North Riverside, Peoria, Quincy, Rockford, Schaumburg and Waukegan.

7-Eleven

Leaders of the multinational convenience store chain 7-Eleven have announced plans to shutter hundreds of locations across North America in October, leaving some of its Illinois stores potentially headed for the corporate chopping block.

7-Eleven, owned by Japan-based Seven & i Holdings, operates more than 300 stores in Illinois, including more than 100 in Chicago. Company officials revealed plans to close 444 stores across the United States, Canada and Mexico in October.

Officials cited reduced store traffic, inflationary pressures and shrinking demand for tobacco, which lead them to downgrade the company's U.S. profit outlook for the year.

According to company officials, 62 percent of consumers live paycheck-to-paycheck, online retail sales have risen from 10 percent of overall retail sales to 16 percent since prior to the pandemic and a reduction in government-provided food assistance has led to average reductions of nearly $100 per participant.

Company representatives have not shared how many Illinois stores would be affected by the closures.