18 clothing stores you'll see less of in the future

L Brands, which owns Victoria's Secret, announced in May that it would close 250 stores in the US and Canada. In the US, 235 Victoria's Secret and three Pink stores will close, and the rest will be in Canada. According to Forbes, Victoria's Secret's net sales fell 46% in the first fiscal quarter of 2020.

According to CNN Business, JCPenney missed debt payments and is nearly $4 billion in debt. CEO Jill Soltau said in a press release, "The closure of our stores due to the pandemic necessitated a more fulsome review to include the elimination of outstanding debt."

JCPenney plans to close a total of 242 stores between this fiscal year and the next.

According to Business Insider, JCPenney had already closed six stores in 2020 in Montana, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

Twenty-nine of the closings were in the United States.

A statement on the company's website said, "We are committed to quickly, thoughtfully, and decisively addressing stores that are underperforming or don't fit our vision for the future of Gap."

According to Business Insider, the company plans to open more stores under other banners including Old Navy and Athleta.

Chico's operates Chico's, White House Black Market, and Soma, and will close 100 Chico's locations, 90 White House Black Market stores, and 60 Soma locations, Business Insider previously reported.

Chico's announced closures in early 2019, and had closed 49 locations by the end of the year, meaning about 200 closures are expected in the next two years.

According to the New York Post, "The chain, which sold mid-priced activewear brands, faced increasing competition from Dick's Sporting Goods, the only national sporting goods chain left. Dick's recently pulled out of a sales slump by focusing on service at the stores and catering more to women."

According to a previous Business Insider report, the closings account for about one-fifth of the company's total stores. The retailer also said it was cutting 2,000 corporate jobs and closing several offices.

Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said in a statement, "We are taking the organization through significant structural change to lower costs, bring teams closer together, and reduce duplicative work."

Chief Executive Officer Carlos Alberini told Bloomberg analysts, "The recent stock performance and expected demand under our new-normal model made very clear that our store portfolios around the world could be optimized to increase profitability."

According to Business Insider, the parent company of Sears and Kmart, Transform Holdco, announced it would close 51 Sears stores and 45 KMart stores — 182 Sears and KMart stores will remain following the closures.

Express closed nine stores in 2019, and closed 31 stores in 22 states in January. Thirty-five stores are expected to close by January 2021, leaving 25 to shut down by the end of 2022, according to Business Insider.

CEO Tim Baxter said in a statement, "My expectation is that we will return to a mid-single-digit operating margin through a combination of low-single-digit comp sales growth, margin expansion and cost reductions. This will of course take some time, but we have a clear path."

Though the company said it would close most of its low-price Last Call stores, it said in May that it does not plan for mass closures of regular Neiman Marcus stores, according to USA Today.

Following the bankruptcy filing, Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said in a statement, "Like most businesses today, we are facing unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed inexorable pressure on our business."

The company announced in early May that it would close 16 stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia, Texas, and Puerto Rico, according to Business Insider.

A few weeks later, the company announced additional closures of its luxury apparel Jeffrey stores in Atlanta, New York City, and Palo Alto.

The kids' clothing company, The Children's Place, recently said it would close 200 stores this year and 100 more in 2021.

In a press release, CEO Jane Elfers said, "In an effort to structurally position the company for continued success, we are significantly accelerating our fleet optimization initiative, and focusing our resources on accelerating our digital sales, both key elements of our long-standing transformation strategy."

Destination Maternity saw several closures in Wisconsin in March, continuing its plan to shutter a total of 183 locations.

According to USA Today, "The company, in a court document, blamed the retail industry's turmoil, declining birth rates, high rents and leadership turnover for faltering. The company has had five CEOs in the last five years."

G-III Apparel Group, which also owns DKNY, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger, said in June that it plans to close all of its 110 Wilson's Leather and 89 G.H. Bass stores, according to a previous Business Insider report.

Chairman and CEO Morris Goldfarb said in a statement, "With a focus on enhancing shareholder value, we have made the difficult decision to close all of the Wilsons Leather and G.H. Bass stores and have entered into agreements for the early lease termination of a significant majority of these stores."

According to BizJournals, the company lost $8.8 million in one 2018 quarter, but saw online sales increase 10.7%.

In April 2019, Star Tribune reported that Christopher & Banks was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after failing to meet a minimum $15 million market cap.

As Business Insider previously reported, the stores will close over the next two years. The company plans to shift its focus to online sales.

Inditex hasn't announced which locations will close, but said in a statement it will be "stores at the end of their useful life."

CEO Pablo Isla said in an Inditex report, "The overriding goal between now and 2022 is to speed up full implementation of our integrated store concept, driven by the notion of being able to offer our customers uninterrupted service no matter where they find themselves, on any device and at any time of the day."

Lucky Brand currently has about 200 locations in the United States and said it plans to close at least 13 in the next few months. The locations closing will be in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, and Puerto Rico.

Interim CEO Matthew Kaness said in a statement, "While we are optimistic about the reopening of stores and our customers' return, the business has yet to recover fully."

According to CNBC, a spokesperson for the retailer said, "Over the past year, Brooks Brothers' board, leadership team, and financial and legal advisors have been evaluating various strategic options to position the company for future success, including a potential sale of the business," and added, "During this strategic review, Covid-19 became immensely disruptive and took a toll on our business."

On June 8, Business Insider reported that Brooks Brothers had closed eight stores permanently in Connecticut, New York, Arizona, Washington, DC, Florida, and Massachusetts.

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