2026’s Biggest Retail Closings — And the Surprising Brands Still Growing

When it comes to keeping an eye on the economy, you’re most likely focused on where you can get your basics for the best price. But another good metric to look at is which retailers are opening new stores versus which ones are closing stores. Coresight Research (via CNBC) recently announced its list of retailers with the most new openings and closings, so we broke down the numbers for you.

Which Retailers Have the Most New Openings?

Per CNBC, the top ten retailers opening new stores span a variety of sectors. The spread varies from budget stores to specialty candle stores. It’s not limited by retailer size either; the largest retailer has over 20,000 stores open at the moment, while the smallest one on this top ten list currently has just 64 stores open. The complete top ten list is as follows:

Store	Stores Open	Stores Opening
Dollar General	20,901	483
Aldi	2,624	168
Tractor Supply	2,364	100
Barnes & Noble	667	60
Target	1,995	43
Dollar Tree	9,269	33
Casey’s	2,921	27
7-Eleven	12,912	21
Pop Mart	64	20
Yankee Candle	223	20

Which Retailers Have the Most New Closings?

Much like the openings, the closings span industries and chain sizes. Perhaps most jarring is the Amazon Fresh closures; the company seems to be shutting down every single Amazon Fresh location it has.

Store	Stores Open	Stores Closing
Gamestop	2,100	467
Francesca’s	457	402
Walgreens	7,960	350
American Signature	122	94
Carter’s	808	61
7-Eleven	12,912	57
Amazon Fresh	57	57
Kroger	2,694	40
Dollar General	20,901	34
Torrid	560	20

How Does This Compare to 2025?

These numbers do differ from the top retailers’ openings and closings for 2025. Closings overall are trending down compared to last year, while openings have stayed roughly on par.

The openings for 2025 include:

• Dollar General: 611 stores
• Dollar Tree: 442 stores
• Alimentation Couche-Tard (Cirkle K): 342 stores
• Aldi: 225 stores
• 7-Eleven: 198 stores
• Five Below: 146 stores
• Casey’s: 145 stores
• Burlington: 141 stores
• Ace Hardware: 132 stores
• The TJX family (e.g. TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, etc): 93 stores

Meanwhile, the closures for 2025 include:

• Rite Aid: 1,292 stores
• Joann’s: 815 stores
• Party City: 738 stores
• Big Lots: 682 stores
• Gamestop: 671 stores
• Claire’s: 485 stores
• Walgreens: 479 stores
• 7-Eleven: 426 stores
• Forever 21: 375 stores
• CVS: 271 stores

Source

Here are the retailers with the most store openings and closures planned for 2026, CNBC, February 2026.

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