No doubt about it, it’s a rough ride in retail right now. With the rise in online shopping, discount shopping becoming the norm and the middle class shrinking, brick-and-mortar retail is doing quite a bit of downsizing. In fact, there are about 2,500 store closings in the works across the U.S.
Aéropostale, the teen clothing retailer has announced the closure of 113 U.S. locations and 41 stores in Canada.
The company said in a statement the plan is, “to right-size their operations by closing unprofitable stores. Such closures will help stem the Debtors’ significant cash burn, increase the Debtors’ liquidity, and allow the Debtors to focus their reorganization efforts around a smaller footprint of more profitable store.”
The company cited mall traffic as one of the problems as comparable same-store sales dropped 10%, according to Reuters.
Chico’s FAS, the parent company that operates Chico’s, White House Black Market, and Soma said it would cut 240 jobs and close 120 stores between 2015 and 2017. According to New-Press.com, the job cuts and store closings are part of the company’s organizational realignment.
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