Buying goods and services online is a common practice among consumers these days, thanks to rapid internet penetration and adoption, as well as the explosion of mobile devices. According to Statista, more than 1.6 billion people worldwide bought goods and services online in 2016. Experts project the number will reach 2.2 billion by the end of 2021. The shift towards online buying has severely affected the operations and profitability of brick-and-motor outlets.

Express made a big announcement about its future in 2020. According to a CNBC report, the giant clothing retailer plans to shut down 100 of its brick-and-motor outlets by the end of this year. By January 2020, Express had closed 31 stores permanently.

In February 2020, Macy’s announced plans to shut down 125 of its departmental stores by the end of 2023, according to a report by CNBC. Before this announcement, the departmental store chain had already closed 25 outlets, in 2019, to be exact. This plan will also render 2000 employees jobless. The drop in profit margins due to the shift to online buying and the Covid 19 pandemic is the main reason Macy’s announced the closures.

Walgreens is one of the most popular drug store chains that operate more than 9500 outlets in the United States. In fact, it’s the second-largest and most popular pharmacy store chain after CVS Health. Although the giant pharmacy chain is not going out of business, it would permanently close 200 of its outlets, according to a document obtained from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website in 2019.

The Office Depot is one of the largest office supply retail chains based in Boca Raton, Florida. It’s one of the most profitable companies with about $ 11 billion in annual revenue, with approximately 38, 000 business associates on its books.

With annual revenue of over $6.2 billion, Signet Jewelers is the largest and most popular retailer of diamond jewelry in the world. In March 2020, the top diamond jewelry retailer temporarily closed 150 of its North American retail stores due to the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic. However, the retail outlets were never reopened.

Founded in 1971 and based in Union, New Jersey, Bed Bath & Beyond focuses on the sale of domestic merchandise. It operates numerous retail outlets in the U.S., Canada, as well as Mexico. In 2020, the domestic merchandize retailer announced the permanent closure of 200 of its retail outlets.

The Children’s Place is a renowned children’s apparel and accessories retailer in the United States and beyond. It boasts 1,085 stores in the U.S. and Canada, as well as 90 international stores. In 2019, the children’s apparel and accessories retailer laid out plans to eliminate 200 of its retail outlets in 2020.

Francesca’s is a specialty retail chain that focuses on trendy, yet affordable women’s clothing, as well as jewelry, accessories, shoes and gift items. Despite its success over the past few years, the apparel retailer announced, in November 2020, that it would shut down approximately 140 of its retail outlets by January 2021 for good.

J.C. Penney is one of the largest departmental store chains in the U.S. that specializes in the sale of conventional merchandise and jewelry. The midscale departmental store chain boats 689 outlets in different states, including Puerto Rico. J.C. Penney has dominated the conventional merchandize space for years, but things went south in 2020.

For years, Pet Valu, a popular pet and pet supplies store chain, has helped individuals to keep their pets healthy, happy and safe. But the Covid 19 pandemic seriously impacted its operations and drastically reduced its profits. It now joins the long list of retail chains closing their outlets. The pet and pet supplies chain store announced, in November 2020, that it will shutter all of its 358 outlets and warehouses in the United States.

Justice, a renowned tween girl clothing shop chain, boasts more than 1000 locations across the U.S. The retailer closed over 600 stores in the summer of 2020. According to a press release by Ascena Retail, Justice is going to close all its retail outlets by early 2021.

Founded in 1978 and based in SanFranscisco, California, Banana Republic focuses on the retail of clothing and accessories. In October 2020, Gap Inc., which owns Banana Republic, laid out plans to shutter approximately 350 Gap and Banana Republic retail outlets by 2023, leaving only 870 retail outlets. Initially, Gap announced the closure of over 225 retail outlets.

This lingerie, clothing and beauty retailer was not spared the recent closing of retail outlets. In 2020, the iconic clothing and beauty retailer shut down 250 of its 1100 retail outlets in the United States and Canada. The retailer is braced for more store closures in the coming 2 years.

H&M is a Swedish multinational company that focuses on the retail of clothing for men, women, and teenagers, as well as children. In November 2019, H&M boasted 5000 stores in 74 countries. The biting effects of the Covid 19 pandemic and the shift towards online buying forced the retailer to shutter 180 stores.

Carter’s is one of the most popular children’s apparels and accessories retailers in the U.S. In October 2020, the company CEO Michael Casey announced the closure of up to 200 retail locations. 60% of those locations are projected to shut down by end of 2021. The remaining retail outlets are expected to go down by 2022.

In 2020, men’s Warehouse parent company, Tailored Brands, laid out plans to close down about 500 stores. This decision came after the men’s apparel retailer was hit hard by the Covid 19 pandemic, which forced many consumers to avoid brick-and-motor stores and shop online.

Burger King’s demand and sales have been dwindling over the past few years that the company started to modify its menu to stop the downward spiral. An example of menu modification is the introduction of Meatless Impossible Whoppers, as well as a coffee subscription service.

GameStop is the world’s largest video game retailer based in Dallas, Texas. Business hasn’t been good for this giant video game retailer in the past two years, evident by the closure of hundreds of outlets and reporting approximately $458 million in losses in that period.

Five years ago, Walmart wrote a pretty hefty check, $3.3 billion, to buy Jet.com, an e-commerce up and comer that it hoped would attract younger, affluent audiences to take on Amazon head to head.

The lifestyle, clothing and accessories retailer, through its Chief Finance Officer, Mark Mathias, outlined its plans to shut down about 250 retail outlets in the next 2 to 3 years. The closures will mostly affect its mallbased locations.

The biting effects of the Coronavirus pandemic have forced Zara’s owner to announce the closure of up to 1200  stores worldwide. This move seeks to minimize operational costs and ramp up online sales. However, the closures will only affect stores in Europe and Asia.

Chico’s is a women’s clothing and accessories retailer based in Fort Myers, Florida. The retailer was struggling even before the pandemic because of increased demand for online shopping. In fact, in 2019, Chico’s announced the closure of 49 stores, which materialized by the end of that year.

Even the food and beverage industry did not escape the store shutdowns going on in the country. Starbucks, one of the most popular multinational chains of coffee houses and roasters, announced the closure of 100 of its outlets in the country in the next year. This closure is due to poorly-performing urban stores. Plans are also underway to close down 300 outlets in Canada by March 2021.

Pizza Hut agreed with its largest Franchisee, NPC International, to shutter about 300 outlets. In 2019, Pizza Hut had 7,499 outlets in America. That means in the coming years, it will only be left with approximately 7000 outlets. This restructuring includes retaining locations that deal more with delivery and takeouts than dine-in.

2019 was an unforgettable year for Boston Market because it closed 45 of its over 450 locations for good in a span of two days. The move, which the company CEO Frances Allen, termed as a ‘’multi-faceted transformation plan’’ is an indication that more locations are going to be closed and more changes are going to happen moving forward.

Metro Diner is a typical American diner chain that serves comfort food with flair. This comfort food chain experienced exponential growth in the past few years. As of 2019, it had over 50 locations. However, with the explosion of delivery and takeout restaurants, Metro Diner’s fortunes dwindled.

Friendly’s, a renowned family restaurant food chain, has been in operation for over 80 years. The past few years have seen a reduction in foot traffic to the family restaurant chain, and so the owners announced the closure of 23 locations in the Northeast.

Fiesta Restaurant Group, which owns, Taco Cabana, one of the most popular Mexican restaurant chains in the United States, announced the closure of 19 of their restaurants in the state of Texas. This includes eight locations in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Subway is a multinational fast food restaurant chain that mainly serves salads, submarine sandwiches and beverages. The larger the restaurant chain, the higher the closures it’s expected to have each year. However, Subway experienced a record-breaking number of closures in 2019, over 1000 locations, to be exact.

This casual-dining restaurant chain parent company, Dine Brands, agrees that Applebee’s is increasingly becoming a little behind times. And so the owners have been closing underperforming locations each year. In 2017, Applebee’s boasted more than 1845 locations. In 2018, 90 locations closed.

This chain of casual dining restaurants has stood the test of time. However, things changed in 2019. The restaurant chain announced the closure of at least 10 outlets. They later broke the news that they had hired a new chief executive officer (Paul Murphy).

This casual dining restaurant chain started a slew of location closing in 2019. These closures could go on for years if the pandemic continues as more and more people opt for takeouts and delivery services.

McCormick & Schmick’s is a leading seafood restaurant chain in the United States. It operates coast to coast and boasts 39 locations in the U.S. and 5 locations in Canada. In 2020, it closed one of its locations in San Diego, just hours after hosting the New Year’s Eve bash.

This Pittsburg-based sandwich shop chain has been around since 1933. It has about 25 locations across different states. In January 2020, it closed its 2 locations in Indianapolis, the Greenwood and Avon Locations. The news was confirmed by the company spokesman. Note that it closed one of its locations (Noblesville) in early 2019.

Once billed ‘’the world’s largest retail store,’’ Sears is now on the path of the closure of most of its departmental stores. The departmental store chain filed for Bankruptcy in 2018 and shut down most of its departmental stores in the past 2 years.

Also owned by Transformco, Kmart has also laid out plans to close some departmental stores. Kmart shop closure news surprised people, considering the discount store chain was deemed essential and remain opened during the strict quarantine restrictions. When the restrictions were eased, Kmart returned to normal operations.