Store openings and closings 2026: Dollar General, Aldi, GameStop

U.S. store openings are expected to increase and store closings to decrease this year compared to 2025, with value retailers leading the growth as they continue to attract more consumer dollars, according to an analysis from Coresight Research.

Overall, Coresight projects that U.S. retailers will close about 7,900 stores in 2026, a 4.5% year-over-year decline. This would represent the lowest number of store closures in the last three years.

The advisory group also expects that retailers will open approximately 5,500 new stores, a 4.4% year-over-year increase.

So far, Dollar GeneralAldi and Supply of tractors topped the list of retailers with the most planned store openings this year, according to Coresight. On the other hand, Stoppage of playFrancesca’s and Walgreens lead the way with the most planned closures in 2026.

John Mercer, head of global research at Coresight, said he expects some closely watched economic factors, such as high inflation and a slow housing market, to gradually ease over the coming year. He said retailers’ real estate plans also reflect “an incremental improvement from 2025, but not a major inflection point.”

Some retail industry themes persist and appear in the data. Department stores and traditional retailers are reducing their number of stores. Value players, including discounters, warehouse clubs and off-price chains, are strengthening their national presence. Successful and reinvented mall retailers, such as Abercrombie & Fitch And Gapcrowd out small specialty clothing retailers.

In the first weeks of the year, there have already been major announcements of store closures. Video game retailer GameStop plans to close hundreds of locations, following a significant wave of previous closures. Women’s fashion chain Francesca’s, which sells clothing and accessories, is closing its nearly 460 stores as the company liquidates its operations following a bankruptcy filing. And Amazon said it would close all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations and turn some of them into Whole Foods Market stores, marking the end of the e-commerce giant’s last brick-and-mortar experiment in the grocery sector.

Last year, store closures were expected to reach their highest level since the Covid pandemic. However, the final count stands at 8,270 closures, compared to 8,825 in 2024 and 9,700 in 2020.

“We saw a lot of things we didn’t expect and a lot of things we didn’t expect were positive,” Mercer said.

Among them, higher tariffs did not affect consumer spending as much as feared, as retailers imported early shipments and absorbed some of those higher costs. Affluent Americans, who benefited from strong stock market gains and rising real estate values, continued to spend and supported the retail sector. They are the thriving part of what is known as the K-shaped economy.

Retail bankruptcies were responsible for much of the downsizing last year, with 32 retailers filing for bankruptcy last year. Rite Aid, Joann, Party City and Big Lots topped the list of most closed stores last year.

Other pharmacies also contributed significantly to closures last year, including Walgreens and CVS Health each reducing their store’s footprint.

So far this year, two retailers have filed for bankruptcy: Saks Global, the parent company of luxury department stores Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus; and LKM Convenience, a Louisiana-based operator of the Brothers Food Mart and Magnolia Express convenience store brands.

An expected slowdown in bankruptcies could tighten real estate demand, said Naveen Jaggi, president of retail advisory services at JLL, a commercial real estate firm that works primarily in larger, fast-growing U.S. retail markets like Chicago, New York and Dallas.

Many retailers opening stores in 2026 closed their real estate deals in 2024, a year when a large amount of space opened up because companies like Bed Bath & Beyond, Joann and Forever 21 closed their stores after filing for bankruptcy.

“We face a world of diminishing supply,” he said. “This is going to become a challenge in 2029 and 2030.”

Like the real estate market, construction of new shopping centers has been slow due to higher labor costs and high interest rates. That tide could turn and developers could innovate more if labor and borrowing costs stabilize and retailers show they’re willing to pay enough to finance these builds, Jaggi said.

Not only are retailers competing for space with their closest peers, they are also competing for square footage in the same shopping centers with expanding food and beverage concepts and chains like Raising Cane’s, as well as Pilates and fitness studios.

“Malls that are trying to grow and mature like to introduce national brands like Soulcycle,” Jaggi said. “You can take out a GameStop and put in a Soulcycle.”

As retailers open new stores, customer adoption of artificial intelligence chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and others to discover merchandise or get shopping advice challenges retailers to think about what they can offer customers in person, Coresight’s Mercer said.

He said for physical locations to complement retailers’ e-commerce offerings, a store must offer convenience and immediacy, offer ease of pickup or returns, offer discounts attractive enough to offset the drawbacks of in-person retail, or become an experiential destination.

“Stores are great brand builders,” he said. “If you’re thinking about agent commerce, it’s great for comparing prices. Stores are a great way to create value for that brand and stand out from the race for the lowest prices.”