These Struggling FL Retailers May Close Locations In 2023

FLORIDA — In 2020 and 2021, the coronavirus pandemic forced retailers to change everything about the way they do business. And even as Florida recovers from shutdowns, shifts in consumer buying habits amid nagging inflation have hurt long-standing retail brick-and-mortar businesses.

As the threat of recession looms over Florida, chains could face yet another difficult year with a whole new set of challenges. Months of inflation have caused operating costs at retail spaces to spike and have chipped away at the sales of mid-tier retailers, experts said.

Even for chains that survived the pandemic, a spate of closures could be on the horizon for both department stores and large retailers in 2023, UBS analysts predicted in mid-December of 2022.

"These trends are likely not good for department stores as both luxury companies, as well as off-price retailers, compete directly with department stores," UBS analysts Jay Sole, Mauricio Serna, Shoshana Pollack, and Tiffany Agard told Insider. "We expect department stores to close locations as challenges persist."

Here are the chains that analysts say are at risk of closing some or all stores in 2023.

1. Bed Bath & Beyond

Bed Bath & Beyond is set to close more than 150 stores across the nation as part of a plan to strengthen business at remaining stores, the retailer said in September 2022.

Two Bed Bath & Beyond stores in Florida are among 56 nationwide targeted for closure as the retailers tries to cut 20 percent of its workforce in an attempt to turn around the struggling home goods chain.

Included on a list of stores slated to close are the Sunrise location at 12801 W. Sunrise Blvd. and the Sanford location at 111 Towne Center Blvd.

Bed Bath & Beyond had just under 60 stores in Florida, including stores in Brandon, Clearwater, Destin, Fort Lauderdale, Lakeland, Miami, Orlando, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and Tampa.

2. CVS

CVS announced in November 2021 that it would shutter more than 900 locations over three years — 300 stores per year. The company said the closures would reestablish a "new retail footprint strategy aligned to evolving customer needs," Yahoo reported. No specific sites have been announced in Florida.

3. Rite Aid

In the spring of 2022, the pharmacy chain announced it would close 145 stores before the year's end, and more closings loom in 2033, Forbes recently reported.

The company cited unprofitability as the main reason to close so many stores. Officials said the closures were meant to "significantly reduce costs."

The drugstore chain, which reported a quarterly loss of more than $67 million on Dec. 21, 2022, and is now projecting greater losses for its fiscal 2023 than it projected three months ago. No list of stores considered for closing in Florida or other states has been released.

“I think what I would tell you is there is an opportunity to close more stores,” Rite Aid executive vice president and chief financial officer Matt Schroeder told analysts last month on a call to discuss fiscal third quarter earnings, Forbes said.

4. Macy's

The department store chain in early 2021 revealed a new round of store closures. The stores targeted included one at Port Charlotte Town Center and Volusia Mall in Daytona Beach. No Florida Macy's locations were listed as closed in 2022.

5. Nordstrom

While it's unclear whether Nordstrom will completely fold in 2023, analysts predict the retailer will be "under pressure" in the first half of 2023, Insider reported. The news website also reported that analysts predict a wave of department stores will close in 2023.

Two Nordstrom stores in Florida closed in 2020. The store at the Dadeland Mall in Miami and Waterside Shops in Naples were among 16 nationwide the company decided to close permanently, according to Business Insider.

6. Sears

Once a shopping behemoth that sold everything from clothes and toys to house kits, only three Sears stores remain in Florida. Stores, excluding the Hometown Stores, are in Miami, Orlando and Palm Beach Gardens, CBS 47 reported last in November.

7. Best Buy

This struggling electronics retailer has been quietly closing more stores each year. The chain closed 20 locations in 2019 and 20 more in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced mass closures of retailers across the nation.

In early 2021, the chain announced plans "to close a higher number this year." The company did not reveal the total number of its stores. Media reports suggest that at least 60 Best Buy stores closed in 2021.

Best Buy currently has 65 locations in Florida. In a March, 2022 Star Tribune article, Best Buy executives said they expected business to continue to taper.

In a 2022 BizJournals.com article, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry predicted that supply chain issues, labor shortages and continued outbreaks of COVID-19 globally could lead to unexpected shutdowns of factories that could ripple through the markets, she said.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misattributed the statement made by Best Buy CEO Corie Barry.