Four stores closed for good in the past month as ‘retail apocalypse’ continues to destroy the shopping landscape

SEVERAL brick-and-mortar stores have permanently closed their doors as a nationwide retail apocalypse rages.

Across the country, hundreds of once-successful retailers are closing and saying goodbye to their customers forever.

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The trend is that more and more consumers prefer to purchase items online.

At the same time, high inflation rates caused Americans to change their spending habits and look for online bargains instead of high-priced in-store purchases.

This month was a particularly tough month for four retailers that closed.

The US Sun has compiled a full list of store closures that have occurred this month.

1. KMART

The last Kmart in New Jersey is closing its doors after narrowly avoiding bankruptcy during the pandemic.

The affected store is in Westwood, just 40 miles from Middlesex County, where another store closed last year.

The closure portends difficult times for the retailer, which now operates just two stores in the mainland United States.

The final two are in Miami, Florida and Bridgehamptom, New York, with another six in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

Kmart’s parent company Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and narrowly avoided liquidation in 2019.

According to USA Today, chains have been slowly shrinking their store fleets over the past 15 years. Today there are more than 3,500 branches and 250,000 jobs.

2. RITE HELP

Drugstore chain Rite Aid will also close five stores in three states this month.

The struggling pharmacy chain announced impending closures in Medford, Oregon; Edmonds, Washington; and Cicero, Massena and Buffalo, New York.

All buyers have the opportunity to drop off their prescriptions at a nearby pharmacy before the end of the month.

“Like all retailers, we regularly review each of our locations to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers, communities and the wider business,” a company spokesperson said.

“We take the decision to close a store very seriously and are based on a variety of factors, including business strategy, leasing and rental considerations, local business conditions and profitability, as well as store performance.”

3. CVS

Following the trend set by Rite Aid, CVS also found itself in a final stretch of underperforming stores.

The next closing is scheduled for September 26th in Albany, New York.

CVS has not given a reason for the closure of each location, but follows an announcement by the chain that it will close 300 stores by 2024.

Another store is scheduled to close Sept. 28 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

All employees at both branches will be offered comparable roles at other locations.

Last month, CVS also closed locations in Harlingen, Texas and Placer County, California.

4. THE CHILDREN’S PLACE

Another major retailer closing multiple locations, including one in Brooklyn, New York this month, is The Children’s Place.

The children’s clothing brand previously closed its Fulton Street location in New York City as it relies more on online sales.

The Children’s Place had already announced it would close 100 of its 600 remaining stores this year.

The closures will also result in a 17 percent reduction in personnel.

Around 300 stores have closed since 2019 as online shopping took off.

Restaurants have also been affected – an Arby’s has closed a location in Mississippi and fans don’t know when to expect it to reopen.

Meanwhile, a rival to Applebee’s is also recording closures across the country.