The list of significant retailers announcing store closures continues to expand this year.
Rite Aid, the large drugstore chain, filed for bankruptcy on October 15, 2023, and closed over 800 stores by the time it emerged from bankruptcy in September 2024.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, a competitor of Rite Aid, announced on October 15, 2024, its decision to close 1,200 underperforming stores over the course of the next three years. This announcement includes plans to close 500 stores in the fiscal year 2025. Walgreens operates 8,000 stores, of which 6,000 are profitable.
Another competitor, CVS, is anticipated to close 300 stores in 2024. This is part of a previously announced plan from 2021 to shutter 900 locations over a three-year span, closing 300 stores each year from 2022 to 2024.
Big Lots, a home goods retail chain, also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 9, 2024. The company has indicated that 553 of its 1,392 stores across 48 states are slated for closure. Further notices of closures may still be forthcoming in the near future. Big Lots is recognized as the fourth largest home goods retailer in the U.S., with operating revenues of $4.7 billion in 2023.
BuyBuy Baby is set to close all its stores approximately a year after resuming operations, following its acquisition by Dream On Me in a Bed Bath & Beyond bankruptcy auction in July 2023. Dream On Me acquired the brand and its digital assets for $15.5 million and 11 store leases for $1.7 million. Despite reopening post-acquisition, the decision has now been made to shift towards an exclusively digital-first business model.
When under Bed Bath & Beyond’s ownership prior to its 2023 bankruptcy, BuyBuy Baby operated approximately 120 stores. Currently, Dream On Me oversees 10 BuyBuy Baby stores across seven Eastern states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia.
Dream On Me announced on October 18 its plans to close all physical stores and transition into a predominantly online shopping platform. The decision follows consumer demand trends and feedback from loyal customers, prompting the brand to redefine itself digitally. Store closure sales began on October 18, and all purchases made before this date remain subject to BuyBuy Baby’s standard return policy. Gift cards will be accepted in stores until October 31, after which they can be redeemed online. The retailer has already ceased its buy-online and pick-up in-store service and in-store price matching.
BuyBuy Baby was initially founded in 1996 by Richard and Jerry Feinstein, sons of Bed Bath & Beyond founder Leonard Feinstein. Bed Bath & Beyond acquired the retail chain in 2007 for $67 million.
