• Over 1,900 retail stores are confirmed to be closing in 2020, but estimates indicate the number of closures could reach as high as 12,000 stores by year’s end.
• This follows years of shrinking sales and store closures among major retailers.
• 2019 set the record for closures with over 9,300 stores shuttering.

The retail apocalypse continues, and may even be worsening. Business Insider reports that as many as 12,000 retail store could close in 2020, and retailers have already confirmed closures of at least 1,900 stores. The confirmed closures represent thousands of job layoffs.

This continues a multi-year trend of shrinking store footprints among major retailers. The record for most store closures was set in 2019 with over 9,300 store closures announced. That beat the previous record set in 2017 of about 8,000 stores.

Here are some of the retailers with the largest numbers of confirmed store closures for 2019:

Categories: Business

Tags: 2020, Business, business cycle, capitalism, closures, featured, forever 21, gap, kmart, layoffs, pier 1, retail, sears, trade, walgreens