These Five Illinois Stores Could Be Closing Very Soon

Sadly, more brick-and-mortar retail locations are struggling and closing daily for many reasons.

People can now easily shop online.  The convenience of a few clicks and it showing up at your doorstep within days is appealing.

People aren't spending as much money.  Or they are, but the money just doesn't go as far with record inflation.

And finally, locations are closing due to high crime.  The same company can sell these items online with little to no risk of theft.

The below 5 stores are ones folks in Illinois will be seeing less of soon.

What Types Of Retail Stores Are Going Strong?

Some stores are still doing quite well.

Grocery stores are booming with places like Aldi rapidly expanding.  While they still have to deal with economics and crime, online shopping is more difficult for groceries.

The others are the big box home improvement stores.  Not all are doing great, but most Home Depot/Lowes stores are showing profit.  These are items people either need immediately or want to touch and feel.

Illinois Stores That Could Be Closed Soon

Meanwhile, these are stores that are closing and will be shutting down more locations in 2024.

#5 - Walgreens

We are personally seeing this happen as our neighborhood Walgreens right down the street from the radio station (Locust and Brady) closes its doors.  And that one is not alone.  Walgreens is set to close 150 locations by August of 2024.

#4 - Walmart

At first, this one doesn't make sense.  They sell groceries and they are one of, if not the, cheapest places for pretty much everything.  So why are they closing stores?

Location, location, location.  See point 3 above.  The company is actually expanding in some areas, but some stores are crumbling with theft and are giving up on trying to serve the community from those locations.

#3 - Macy's

Everyone loves the Thanksgiving parade, but Macy's is hurting as the mall anchor store is watching malls across the country dissolve.  The company is planning to close about 150 stores nationwide.

#2 - Dollar Tree/Family Dollar

Again, you'd think these types of stores would be thriving.  Everyone is looking for a deal these days.  So why are they closing 600-1000 stores nationwide?

According to CBS News:

The retailer's family of brands has struggled as inflation impacts its low-income shoppers' wallets.

More incidences of shoplifting are also hurting its bottom line, the retailer has said.

#1 - Best Buy

Nostalgia time!  Remember going to Best Buy and searching through the CDs?  I found so many random CDs there back in the day.  The one I went to in Eau Claire and then Madison Wisconsin would get European versions of singles.  So random...and so awesome.

Now, there are no CDs.  No DVDs/Blu-Rays.  They have TVs, computers, and phones and are trying to compete with the home improvement stores when it comes to appliances.

While it is nice to see and touch a TV or computer before buying it, think about how big a Best Buy is.  They don't need that much room.  So the cost of the store vs. what they are selling is not balancing.  If Best Buy wants to survive on what they do best they'd abandon the large stores and move into buildings about half the size.

At this point, they are only "planning" to close 15 stores.  That is about 2% of the stores nationwide.  But to me, that is just the start of what we will see more of shortly for the once electronics go to store.