It’s a pretty hard time to be a retailer right now.
No matter which part of the industry you’re in, most companies have found the past five or so years to be pretty tumultuous.
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If you’re a local mom-and-pop shop located in a small town, you’ve probably found it hard to operate.
An exodus from small towns over the past several decades in favor of larger cities has been a strengthening trend.
Rural and small towns across the U.S. have seen population decline steadily, and Covid decimated many of the smaller stores that kept the remaining population supplied.
Those stores that made it through the pandemic struggled with increasingly stiff competition from larger, primarily online retailers.
These large corporations, like Walmart, Target, and Amazon, make daily life more convenient for customers — but pretty unsustainable for small brick-and-mortar businesses.
It’s not all cheery for the big players, though.
These retailers grapple with an array of issues that have only increased in recent years — and are showing no sign of abating anytime soon.
Nordstrom is closing two more stores in summer 2025.
Image source: Shutterstock
Large retailers have plenty of problems
It’s not all easy for the bigger competition, though.
Plenty of these large-scale operations, which range from big-box stores to department stores, have had to adjust to change over the past several years.
When Covid struck, very few were able to adapt quickly.
More closings:
- Popular local Dairy Queen rival suddenly closing, no bankruptcy
- Another big Mexican chain closing down restaurant, no bankruptcy
- UPS suddenly closing more stores amid chaotic new change, layoffs
- Popular fast-food burger chain closes all restaurants in key area
Customers suddenly shifted nearly all their shopping to online, and few retailers had the pre-existing capability or know-how to fulfill demand.
Only a handful of retailers had the reach and cash to scale up operations quickly.
Amazon, for instance, had been working prior to Covid to dominate e-commerce sales, and it remains the top destination for many household essentials.
Walmart, which has a location within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population, stood up Walmart+ (its Amazon Prime competitor) in 2020, using many of its brick-and-mortar stores as fulfillment centers.
But these cases are the exception, not the rule, and plenty of other large stores crumbled under the weight of demand.
Another retail chain closing down stores
Things were especially hard for mall retailers, which depended heavily on passing foot traffic to keep afloat.
Even after malls reopened after the worst of Covid, many of their retailers struggled to recapture the customer enthusiasm emblematic of a pre-2020 world.
Such is the case with Nordstrom (JWN) , the iconic upscale department store that anchors malls around the U.S.
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As more competitors begin to sell luxury goods online, Nordstrom has been working diligently to protect its competitive moat.
But this is easier said than done, and in some cases, Nordstrom has had to close stores.
And now, Nordstrom is closing two stores in two major cities in the U.S. by the end of summer 2025.
Those stores are in:
- Santa Monica, Calif.
- St. Louis, Mo.
The Santa Monica location had been iconic in the California city and operated for 15 years.
As it closes these stores, Nordstrom will continue to scale up its online operations in an effort to meet customers where they are.
“We believe we’ll be best able to serve customers in each region by leveraging our surrounding stores and through our digital channels,” a spokesperson said. “Decisions like this are never easy, and we understand the impact they have on our team members. We’re committed to taking care of our employees through this transition, including supporting those who are interested in finding another role within Nordstrom.”