The American errand run is receiving a silent rewrite. In retail and restaurants, chains are reducing their presence in a manner that alters the place people go to take the basics, window shop occasion clothes, or get a standard meal on a weekday. Other brands refer to the movements as efficiency plays; other brands are struggling with restructurings.
The plans combined amount to almost 1,280 intended closures going through 2026. The key, publicly-debated closure plans are listed below and what each one indicates regarding physical location rethinking by big chains.
1. Francesca’s: approximately 400 boutiques to go to the sale of going out of business
Francesca intends to liquidate its chain stores following its filing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and its going-out-of-business sales are projected in approximately 400 stores in the United States. The retailer used to be bankrupt in 2020 and acquired by TerraMar Capital and Tiger Group.
CFO Curt Kroll in a statement related to the bankruptcy process said, This process is a structured way to seek the optimal outcome to all involved. We are committed to being responsible in our operations and assisting our teams, partners and guests in the process.
2. Wendy’s: approximately 300 restaurants that are to be considered underperforming
The number of restaurants that Wendy has stated that it will reduce to underperformers in the United States has been quoted to be between 5 percent and 6 percent of its approximately 6,000 restaurants; this has the implication of around 300 restaurants closing down. The company has framed the plan under wider discipline of operation, and it is likely to happen in the first half of the year 2026.
To the customer, this practical effect frequently translates itself into a reduced number of available outlets in flooded trade locales and a narrowing down of the concentration on larger outlets.
3. Pizza Hut: 250 locations, as a brand “acceleration” move
According to its parent company, Yum!, Pizza Hut will close 250 poorly performing stores within the United States by the first half of 2026. Brands. The company attributed the decrease as a move in a program to hasten the Pizza Hut brand in the long run.
Yum has also indicated that targeted closures are a small percentage of its world wide presence, as the company has approximately 20,000 outlets all over the world.
4. Carter: approximately 100 stores by 2026 end of lease
Carter has announced that it will shut 150 of its stores in North America during the next 3 years as leases expire, with approximately 100 of them closing by 2026. The focus on lease timing is an indication that much of the retail decisions are also calendar events and that chains leveraged the renewal windows to re-size networks without leaving in large numbers.
5. Macy: 80 additional store closures as the retailer focuses on its better stores
Macy has been carrying out a five-year plan to shut its 150 stores by 2026, with 80 of these stores planned by 2026. The strategy has been characterized as prioritizing on the most performing stores and reinforcing the online experience.
Approximately 350 Macys stores will survive after the scheduled shutdowns- a key point of note since most shoppers will assume that the reduction of the footprint will imply disappearance and not consolidation.
6. Kroger: 60 unprofitable supermarkets over a 18 month period
Kroger has indicated that it will close down 60 stores in the United States that are not profitable in 18 months. The grocer has explained in its yearly report of a huge footprint of 2,731 supermarkets in 35 states and Washington, DC, as of February 2025, which makes the distance of closures to appear selective, not systematic.
Grocery closures have a dissimilar reverberation in most communities than in apparel or specialty retail, since shopping excursions are quite common and substitutes can be farther apart.
7. Saks Off 5th: Saks global has 57 stores and online wind-down
Saks Off 5th intends to shut 57 outlets by the beginning of 2026. The larger context consists of corporate restructuring: the parent company, Saks Global, petitioned bankruptcy under Chapter 11 early in January and the outlet is also selling off its site, though it is described as an independent legal entity.
Saks Global has also indicated that it will shut five of its Last Call outlets, Neiman Marcus off-price idea, and contributed to the reshaping of where shoppers could find discounts on designers in the real world.
8. Yankee Candle: 20 stores in the context of a strategy of wider productivity
Newell Brands has announced that it will shut 20 Yankee Candle stores in the U.S. and Canada starting January 2026, and a reduction of more than 900 workers. The reason behind this productivity plan was articulated by its CEO, Chris Peterson, in a press release: This productivity plan is one of the next, disciplined steps to improve our efficiency, sharpen our strategic focus, and provide more powerful and consistent performance.
In the case of mall operators and lifestyle centers, such specialty closures can be important, as they usually act as drivers of the gift-occasion traffic.
9. Saks Fifth Avenue: 8 closures as the flag-store brand optimizes
Saks Global has indicated that it will maximize its footprint of Saks Fifth Avenue by shutting down eight stores. Moreover, the company has indicated that it will shut down one of the Neiman Marcus stores in Boston, which further indicates that the physical map of luxury is being edited on several banners simultaneously.
10. REI: three big city shutdowns
REI has affirmed that it will shutdown three stores, beginning with the New Jersey store in the first quarter of 2026, thereafter the SoHo store in New York City and the Boston store in the second half of 2026. The company stated that as the markets and the needs of the customers change, it needs to change to place the co-op in a better position to be successful in the long term.
Since REI locations delineate as service centers and community gathering places, shutdowns can re-locate to some extent where participants repair and make returns as well as in-person outfitting assistance.
11. Pharmacy chains: another wave of closures already changes convenience health stops
In parallel contraction, retail pharmacy has been weeding out hundreds of shops over the last several years. Walgreens has mentioned it will close nearly 1200 of its U.S. stores, over three years, and CVS has said it would close 270 stores in 2025, after it closed 900 stores in 2022-2024, by store-closure totals collected in 2025.
The footprint has not been spared either as Rite Aid has filed bankruptcy and 316 store locations were identified to be tapped and the company is also negotiating the sale of pharmacy assets to other operators.
12. JCPenney: a reminder that “isolated closures” still add up locally
Not every chain is pursuing large-scale retrenchment, but smaller batches still change local shopping patterns. JCPenney confirmed seven store closures with a May 25 closing date in a statement to television, while also saying it did not have plans to significantly reduce its store count.
The company attributed location-level decisions to practical forces such as expiring leases and market changes factors that often determine which malls keep a department-store anchor and which lose it.
These closures do not point in a single direction so much as they narrow choices in specific neighborhoods. In some categories, chains are trimming underperforming sites; in others, bankruptcy or restructuring forces faster exits.
For consumers, the most immediate shifts tend to be mundane: longer drives for a familiar store, fewer quick pharmacy stops, and a growing expectation that selection lives online while physical locations become more concentrated and, for many brands, more carefully justified.
