Dozens of popular stores to close in Charlotte as national retailers scale down or fold
This year is already shaping up to be another tumultuous one for brick-and-mortar retailers, and many have already announced plans to close stores in the Charlotte region.
Some notables include Payless, which announced last week it will close all of its 2,300 shoe stores, as well as the women’s retailer Charlotte Russe. Combined, they are closing 10 stores around Charlotte.
The number of store closure announcements so far in the first six weeks of 2019 is up 23 percent compared with this time last year, according to a Feb. 13 report from Coresight Research.
The recently announced closures follow a year of high-profile retail losses in Charlotte and beyond.
As part of its bankruptcy filing last fall, Sears announced plans to close two North Carolina stores, including the one in Carolina Place Mall in Pineville. Staples closed its Midtown Charlotte location last summer.
And last year Toys R Us closed all of its stores nationwide, including six in the Charlotte area. Mattress firm closed six area stores last fall after the company filed for bankruptcy.
There are a number of reasons for the mass closures. The Coresight report cites the “relentless encroachment of e-commerce,” an excess of stores in the U.S. and the indebtedness of retailers, which is exacerbated by rising interest rates. The report notes that there is “no light at the end of the tunnel” — meaning retail closures will continue.
Mattress Firm has indicated plans to close hundreds more stores, for instance. Gap said last fall that it intends to close hundreds of its namesake stores in malls “quickly and aggressively,” according to multiple reports including one Nov. 21 from CNBC.
Store closures in Charlotte mean that dozens of local employees at each location will lose jobs. Low-income part-time workers make up a large portion of the store-level workforce.
Steven Cox, a marketing professor at Queens University of Charlotte, said retailers must work to differentiate themselves if they want to survive. Payless, for instance, offered little more than low prices. The customer service is lacking, Cox said, and the product selection is “not great.”
“From my perspective, if you ask today, ‘Who’s going to be in the most trouble?’ It’s those retailers who can’t enhance their customer experience,” Cox said.
Here’s a look at several national retailers that have either announced plans to close or have closed stores here so far this year:
Payless
Last week, the Kansas-based shoe retailer Payless said it would close all of its stores, including the nine it operates in the Charlotte area at large malls including Carolina Place and Northlake. The company has also stopped taking orders on its website.
In anticipation of the closures, Payless began a liquidation process at all of its stores that it expects will last until the end of May, according to its website.
Clarks
At the end of January, the shoe retailer Clarks closed two of its Charlotte stores, at SouthPark mall and at Northlake. The British company operates one other Charlotte store at Charlotte Premium Outlets.
“We regularly review our store portfolio to ensure each of our stores meets our consumers’ needs as well as our business requirements,” spokeswoman Sarah Salmean said in an email.
Charlotte Russe
Charlotte Russe, which sells clothing for young women, said it would close 94 stores nationwide when it filed for bankruptcy protection this month. One affected store is in Eastridge Mall, according to several news reports including CNBC on Feb. 5.
Eastridge spokeswoman Cindee Joye said the mall has had several retailers show interest in the Charlotte Russe spot. Charlotte Russe has four other stores in the Charlotte region.
Gymboree
The children’s clothing retailer Gymboree announced in January that it would file for bankruptcy, its second filing in as many years. As part of its bankruptcy, the company said it would begin “an orderly wind-down of all of its Gymboree and Crazy 8 store locations and operations.”
Gymboree has area two stores (Charlotte Premium Outlets and Carolina Place Mall), as does Crazy 8 (Concord Mills and Carolina Place Mall.)
Gymboree will continue to operate its high-end Jack and Janie line, which is “a strong brand that is poised to grow,” the company said on its website. Jack and Jackie has one area store in SouthPark mall.
This story was originally published February 21, 2019 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Dozens of popular stores to close in Charlotte as national retailers scale down or fold."
