The Gap has closed hundreds of stores in the past few years. In 2017 alone, it closed 200 Gap and Banana Republic stores. The Gap, Inc., founded in San Francisco in 1969, owns Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta stores, as well as its namesake brand. But the Gap, company-wide, has been sliding into oblivion.
To put it into perspective, the Gap has trailed behind Victoria’s Secret’s loser, L Brands. One ray of hope is the Old Navy brand, which outsells all other Gap store brands. The plan was to separate the company into two publicly traded divisions and Old Navy now exists as its own company.
Nine West
Alas, Nine West is gone. In 2018 Nine West buckled under its heavy $1.6 billion debt and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The courts approved the sale of its $340 million shoe business to Authentic Brands Group, owner of the Juicy Couture and Aéropostale brands. But, though the storefronts are gone forever, Nine West, which owns brands like Anne Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt, maintained the operation of its jewelry and apparel businesses, including Anne Klein.
It seems the 1970-established shoe manufacturer got swept up in the retail end-times that are decimating malls all over the nation. Due to the bankruptcy proceedings, all 70 Nine West stores were forced to close, but the agreement allowed Nine West wholesale sales to continue, as well as online sales. It’s sad to see one of the best shoe brands ever go by the wayside.
Ascena Retail
According to Macroaxis, Ascena Retail had a 42% chance of going into bankruptcy. Ascena Retail covered more retail shops than you might expect. The company owned Justice, Lane Bryant, Ann Taylor, Lou & Grey, LOFT, Dress Barn, Catherine, Cacique, and Maurice stores. All told, they ran 4,500 stores nationally, with shops in Canada and Puerto Rico too.
To help Ascena’s bottom line, the company sold 943 Maurice “value” stores to OpCapita, a London-based private equity, for $300 million. The New Jersey-based company planned to use the proceeds to pay down debt and reinvest in Ascena. This went pear-shaped in 2021, and the brand closed down completely following the world's health crisis.
National Stores Inc.
National Stores Inc. is a relatively small discount clothing chain with 344 stores. That was before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2018. Since then, 74 shops were shuttered, with liquidation sales closing doors for good. All locations of the chain were closed by September 2022.
Some of the shops involved in National Stores closings are Fallas, Factory 2-U, Weiner’s, Conway, and Anna’s Linens. The stores’ negative profitability was attributed to a down-retail environment and lost revenue from Hurricanes Harvey and Maria. On top of that, there was a data breach that cost the company about $4.4 million.
Signet Jewelers
Signet Jewelers, home of Kay Jewelers, Zales, and Jared, the top mall brands, faired even worse than Victoria’s Secret. In 2018 Signet Jewelers shuttered 262 stores, most of them located in the U.S., and after a disappointing earnings report, the company announced plans to close 150 more stores.
2020, which was a bad year for business all around, saw the company making 15% less than the previous year, however, online sales were at an all-time high with a 58% rise. Signet Jewelers is the world’s largest diamond retailer, with more than 3,500 locations. Despite the 2% drop in sales, CEO Virginia C. Drosos remains optimistic.