From Kmart to Circuit City: Iconic American Stores That Closed in Recent Decades

The “retail apocalypse” trend in the U.S. in recent years has led to the demise of chain stores whose brands were once a staple of American culture and shopping.

Now, as Kmart plans to close its last full-size store in the continental U.S. in October, let’s take a look at the iconic American retail stores that have closed over the past two decades.

Kmart

The department store chain, which had about 2,300 stores in the early 1990s, will close its big-box store in Bridgehampton, New York, on Oct. 20, a store employee told The Associated Press.

This means the smaller Kmart store in Miami will become the last operating store in the U.S. Kmart, which is currently owned by Transformco, also has three stores in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

LAST FULL-SIZE KMART STORE IN US TO CLOSE

Kmart filed for bankruptcy in 2002 as retailers struggled to compete with Walmart’s low prices and Target’s more fashionable offerings. It merged with Sears a few years later, then filed for bankruptcy again in 2018.

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Founded in 1971 and once considered a retail powerhouse, the struggling company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2023 after suffering mounting losses and failing to make several attempts to turn its business around.

The retail chain has liquidated its stores, closing them for good on July 30, 2023.

Mr. and Taylor

Lord & Taylor, America’s first and oldest department store, has joined a long list of retailers that have gone bankrupt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company opened its first department store in 1826 and operated brick-and-mortar stores until filing for bankruptcy in 2020. It closed all of its stores the following year. The retailer has since returned to the online shopping space.

Modell’s Sporting Goods

The family-owned Modell’s sporting goods store opened in 1889 and at one point had more than 150 stores.

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In February 2020, the chain announced the closure of 24 stores as it fights for survival.

The efforts proved unsuccessful, and the retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It closed all brick-and-mortar stores by the end of August 2020.

Pier 1 Imports

Pier 1 Imports Inc. filed for bankruptcy in February 2020 and announced plans to sell the company. At the time, Pier 1 had more than 1,000 brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S. and Canada.

In May 2020, the retailer announced the liquidation of its stores, the last of which closed in October the following year.

In July 2020, the brand was taken over by Retail ECommerce Ventures, which moved its operations to the e-commerce sector.

District city

Electronics retailer Circuit City was one of many retailers whose sales fell amid the rise of e-commerce operations like Amazon. The trend, known as the “retail apocalypse,” has worsened in recent years, as retail bankruptcies reached a six-year high in 2017.

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Circuit City hasn’t had a brick-and-mortar store since 2009, but in 2018 the company attempted to return to the market by launching an e-commerce site.

Fox Business’s Greg Norman and Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.