Coresight Research: U.S. store closures to top 5,000 again this year

NEW YORK—Retailers in the United States have so far announced plans to shutter 5,172 stores in 2024, according to Coresight Research's latest Weekly US and UK Store Opening and Closures Tracker .

The 5,172 store closures figure, reported on Friday, includes 506 more closures (including Rite Aid’s 243 additional store closures planned for this year) than the previous week's report. The tracker also reported 4,799 store planned openings for 2024, up by 271 openings from last week's tally.

Last year, Coresight Research recorded 5,548 store closures and 5,835 store openings in the United States, resulting in a net gain of 287 stores. At week 34, this year's store opening and closure tally is currently pointing to a net reduction in the country's store count by 373 stores.

More announced store openings may be coming, so it's not certain that the U.S. store base will end up smaller at the end of the year. But so far the pace of store closing announcements is higher than last year's. Year to date in 2024, major U.S. retailers have announced 4.0% more openings and 48.2% more closures when compared to the year-ago period.

Coresight Research's Weekly US and UK Store Opening and Closures Tracker, which also tracks retail bankruptcies, comes out on Fridays. More information is available here .