Former iconic American stores that have closed in last 20 years: Kmart to Circuit City

The “retail apocalypse” trend in the U.S. has seen the downfall of chain stores in recent years whose brands were once staples of American culture and shopping.

Now, as Kmart plans to shutter its last full-scale store in the continental United States in October, here is a look at past iconic American retailers that have closed in the last two decades.

The department store chain, which once operated around 2,300 locations in the early 1990s, will shutter the full-size store in Bridgehampton, New York, on Oct. 20, one employee who works at the store told The Associated Press.

That means a smaller Kmart store in Miami will become the last one remaining in the U.S. Kmart, which is now owned by Transformco, also has three stores in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

LAST FULL-SIZE KMART IN US TO CLOSE

Kmart filed for bankruptcy in 2002 as the retailer struggled to compete with Walmart’s low prices and Target’s trendier offerings before merging with Sears years later, then filed for bankruptcy again in 2018. 

The beleaguered retailer, founded in 1971 and once seen as a retail powerhouse, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2023 after suffering from mounting losses and several failed attempts to turn around its business.

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

Lord & Taylor, America’s first and oldest department store, was among a long list of retailers that collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic.

The company opened its first department store in 1826, and operated brick-and-mortar stores until it filed for bankruptcy in 2020. It shuttered all its store locations the following year. The retailer has since mounted a comeback in the online shopping space.

Family-owned sports retailer Modell’s first opened its doors in 1889, and at one time operated more than 150 stores. 

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In February 2020, the chain announced it would be closing 24 stores as it fought to stay alive. 

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

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

In May 2020, the retailer announced it was liquidating its stores, of which the last was shuttered the following October.

The brand was bought out in July 2020 by Retail ECommerce Ventures, which pivoted the business into the e-commerce sector.

Electronics retailer Circuit City was one of many retail chains that saw sales collapse 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 in operation since 2009, though it attempted a comeback through launching an e-commerce website in 2018.

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