Thousands of brick-and-mortar retail and dining storefronts are sitting empty in the wake of a tsunami of business closures across the US in recent months. Inflation has beaten down consumers , forcing Americans — whose salaries have largely not kept pace — to rethink how and when they shop. This has pushed some already-struggling retailers and restaurants to the brink, sparking a rash of bankruptcies and the closures of nearly 3,200 store locations in 2024.
That represents a 24 percent increase in store closures over the same period in 2023, according to a CBS News analysis of data collected by retail tracker CoreSight. While there are a few stores looking to expand — Dollar General is planning to open 800 new locations in 2024, and 7-Eleven will cut the ribbon on 270 US locations this year — there are 4 percent fewer location openings this year than when compared with 2023, according to CoreSight's data. Here's a list of some of the major retailers and restaurants shutting down stores this year.
Dollar Tree tops the list of stores closed, announcing earlier this year that it planned to shutter more than 600 Family Dollar locations by the end of 2024 . The discount goods store cited inflation and an increase in shoplifting losses for the closures. “Persistent inflation and reduced government benefits continue to pressure the lower-income consumers that comprise a sizable portion of Family Dollar’s customer base,” the company’s CEO, Rick Dreiling, said, per CN.
