Raphael Stevens

Store closures in the U.S. spiked in 2024 and are expected to rise to about 15,000 this year, according to Coresight Research, a retail advisory group.
The striking numbers reflect the stark divide between retailers that are gaining market share, such as Walmart and Costco, and those that have lost ground or filed for bankruptcy, such as Big Lots and The Container Store.
Competitive dynamics, not declining consumer demand, is to blame, according to John Mercer, Coresight’s head of global research.

Shoppers seek closeout sale discounts at Party City in Stamford, Conn. July 3, 2023. 
Tyler Sizemore | Albany Times Union | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images

Store closures in the U.S. last year hit the highest level since the pandemic — and even more locations are expected to shutter this year, as shoppers’ dollars increasingly go to a few industry winners, according to an analysis by Coresight Research.
Major retailers, including Party City and Macy’s, closed 7,325 stores in 2024, according to the retail advisory group’s data. That’s the sharpest jump since retailers in the U.S. shuttered almost 10,000 stores in 2020, the year when the Covid pandemic began.

So far this year, closures continue to climb. Retailers have already announced 1,925 store closures so far in 2025 — and that was only as of Jan. 10. The five retailers that have announced the most closures this year are Party City, Big Lots, Walgreens Boots Alliance, 7-Eleven and Macy’s, respectively.
The retail advisory firm projects that retailers will close about 15,000 stores this year as some legacy brands shrink and file for bankruptcy protection, or liquidating companies shutter locations.
The striking numbers reflect the stark divide between retailers that are gaining market share and those that have lost ground. Amazon, Costco and Walmart have gotten bigger as shoppers seek value and convenience. On the other hand, some smaller chains and specialty retailers have struggled to keep doors open or been forced to downsize.
A spike in bankruptcies contributed to the high number of closures in 2024. According to Coresight’s data, there were 51 retail bankruptcies in 2024, up from 25 in 2023. Some of those, such as Party City, have most of their closures taking place in 2025.

Consumer spending has stayed strong — but a larger share of the dollars has gone to fewer retailers. Holiday sales increased 4% year over year to $994.1 billion for Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, according to the National Retail Federation, the industry’s major trade group. That total excludes auto dealers, gas stations and restaurants.

That’s about in line with pre-pandemic holiday spending, which rose an average of 3.6% from 2010 to 2019.
The number of jobs in the industry also did not appear to fall despite the closures. Employment in the retail trade “changed little” last year, after the industry added about 10,000 jobs per month in 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said earlier this month.
Specialty retailers in particular have struggled: In December, The Container Store filed for bankruptcy protection. Big Lots’ new owner is in the middle of an effort to keep some stores open, after the discount retailer said in December that it would start going-out-of-business sales across all stores. Fabrics and craft retailer Joann filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month for the second time in a year.
But it wasn’t just specialty stores. Last year, the highest number of closures came from Dollar Tree-owned Family Dollar, CVS Health, Conn’s, rue21 and Big Lots, respectively. Conn’s, a home goods and furniture retailer, and rue21, a teen apparel retailer, closed all stores after the parent company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2024.
John Mercer, Coresight’s head of global research, said competitive threats, not a decline in demand, is to blame.
“Demand may be strong among consumers, but where is some of that increased demand going? Where is it being channeled to?” he said.
Mercer said the retailers that are shuttering stores tend to fall in three categories: They are closing all locations as part of a liquidation, such as Party City; shutting down many of their stores after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, such as The Container Store; or trimming back their footprint as they adapt to fast-changing consumer preferences, such as drugstores Walgreens and CVS and legacy department store Macy’s.
Macy’s, for example, is in the middle of closing about 150 of its namesake stores across the country by early 2027. The department store operator has been shuttering roughly 50 of those per year, since it made the announcement in early 2024. It is opening a limited number of shops that are smaller, off-mall versions of its namesake stores and new locations of its better-performing brands, Bloomingdale’s and beauty chain Bluemercury.

Some newcomers are chipping away at legacy retailers’ sales, Mercer said. Coresight estimates that Chinese e-commerce companies Shein and Temu pulled in a combined roughly $100 billion in sales last year, with the majority of that coming from outside of the U.S.
For example, more Americans are turning to sites like Temu for party balloons and storage tubs, which may have contributed to the bankruptcy filings of Party City and The Container Store last year, he said.
Even a small percentage drop in sales can be a blow to retailers’ stores, which come with high fixed costs like leases and labor, Mercer said.
Some unique factors have widened the gap between store openings and closures, according to David Silverman, a retail analyst at Fitch Ratings. When a major mall anchor like Macy’s closes, he said that can lead smaller retailers to exit, as well. As some stores in mall or strip shopping centers shutter, they’re also getting replaced by fitness studios, urgent care clinics or apartments instead of another retail store.
He added that population shifts during the Covid pandemic changed retailers’ store traffic patterns and shook up where they may want to be located.
“Most companies are not adding a significant number of square footage and even the ones that until recently were adding a lot, like the dollar stores, are rethinking their footprints,” he said.
Silverman said he expects more stores will continue to close than open in the U.S., as retailers’ growth comes from online sales and as larger companies take a bigger share of the market. Some of those, such as Walmart, add a lot more volume with one store than specialty retailers get from the dozens of locations they close, he added.
Investors will soon get an update on which retailers are outperforming and underperforming. Most major retailers will deliver their holiday-quarter results starting in mid-February.
Some retailers, including Kohl’s and Macy’s, announced their own plans for store closures before they shared full quarterly results. Kohl’s said earlier this month that it will close 27 underperforming stores by April, along with shuttering an e-commerce fulfillment center in San Bernardino, California, in May.

There’s some hopeful news for the retail industry, however: Store openings also accelerated last year in the U.S. to 5,970 — the highest number since Coresight began tracking store openings and closures in 2012. The firm anticipates that will stay about flat in 2025, with an estimated 5,800 stores opening.
Last year, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, 7-Eleven, Mexican convenience store Oxxo and Five Below tallied the most store openings.
So far this year, the top five retailers in terms of announced store openings in the U.S. are Aldi, JD Sports, Burlington Stores, Pandora and Barnes & Noble, respectively.

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Shein executive chairman Donald Tang suggested that the company’s ultralow prices will not be affected by tariffs as long as new tariffs are “applied equally.”
President Donald Trump had suggested tariffs as high as 60% on imports from China but has since softened that stance and said it could be closer to 10%.
When asked if Shein will still be able to provide its ultralow prices if tariffs take effect, Tang did not address whether the company would raise prices.

A view of a Shein pop-up store at a mall in Singapore on April 4, 2024.
Edgar Su | Reuters

Shein’s ultracheap clothes can remain affordable as long as proposed tariffs from President Donald Trump are “applied equally,” the company’s executive chairman Donald Tang said Thursday. 
“Affordability is a big anchor. … It’s the whole package of it, it’s a value for [your] money,” Tang told CNBC’s Sara Eisen during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

On the campaign trail, Trump had proposed tariffs as high as 60% on imports from China, where Shein primarily manufactures its clothes. He has since softened that stance and has suggested a 10% tariff instead. 
When asked if Shein will still be able to provide its ultralow prices if tariffs take effect, Tang did not address whether the company would raise prices, but suggested that it would still be able to remain competitive as long as China does not see higher tariffs than other regions. 
Imports from China already face tariffs, but critics say Shein has been able to avoid them by shipping its packages directly to consumers, which has shielded it from duties under a trade law called the de minimis provision. The so-called “loophole” allows packages valued under $800 to enter the U.S. with less scrutiny and without paying import duties and processing fees.
Last fall, the Biden administration announced new steps to curtail use of the de minimis provision by issuing a new rule proposal that would bar the exemption for products that are subject to U.S.-China tariffs. The move was aimed at companies such as Shein and competitor Temu, which have been blamed for the surge in de minimis shipments in recent years.
On Monday, Trump effectively endorsed Biden’s de minimis policy. In a trade memorandum issued during Trump’s first day in office, he instructed incoming Cabinet officials to assess the total import duties the U.S. stood to lose because of “the current implementation of the $800 or less, duty-free de minimis exemption,” and directed them to “recommend modifications as warranted.”

While it is not totally clear what they will recommend, the language strongly suggests that Trump plans to pick up where Biden left off in the bid to end de minimis exemptions.
The fast-fashion company has been on a meteoric rise over the past few years and had been planning for a U.S. initial public offering but ultimately scrapped those plans and turned to London when political sentiment soured on the Chinese-born company. 
When asked about its plans for a London public offering, Tang declined to comment but explained why the company wants to be public. 
“Being a public company embraces the very universal and unique mechanism for accountability,” he said, adding that public trust is “crucial” for long-term growth.

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Moderna is testing a norovirus vaccine in a phase three trial, with results available as soon as this year.
Norovirus cases are on the rise this winter, with outbreaks already up more than 30% by December, per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The stomach bug is highly contagious and spreads easily in nursing homes, daycares, cruise ships and other places where people are in close quarters. It’s especially dangerous for seniors.

A researcher works in the lab at the Moderna Inc. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Norovirus is raging across the U.S. this winter. Moderna might soon have a vaccine for it. 
A large phase three trial of the shot is underway, with results expected as soon as later this year or 2026. Moderna needs to see a certain number of cases before it can analyze the data and determine how well its vaccine works, putting the timeline in flux. The 25,000-person study is enrolling ahead of schedule, said Doran Fink, Moderna’s clinical therapeutic area head for gastrointestinal and bacterial pathogens. 

“I don’t know if it’s directly attributable to the increased incidence of norovirus this season, but we clearly have a lot of interest in participation in this trial,” Fink said. 
Norovirus is a nasty stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea. It’s highly contagious and can spread easily in nursing homes and daycares, and on cruise ships. It’s generally a seasonal illness that’s more common in the winter months. 
This winter has been especially brutal. Twice as many norovirus tests are coming back positive this January than the same time last year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Norovirus outbreaks were up 36% so far this season as of Dec. 11, according to the CDC. 
There’s currently no vaccine for norovirus. Like flu, there are many types of norovirus, making immunizing against it a challenge.
Moderna’s vaccine candidate targets the three genotypes that the company says typically cause most infections. It works by showing the immune system something that looks like norovirus but isn’t infectious, so the body can learn how to fight back if the real thing hits.

The company’s vaccine candidate does not include the genotype that’s causing the bulk of this year’s infections. One of the study’s goals is to see whether the vaccine protects against more types of norovirus than the shot specifically targets, Fink said. He said mRNA vaccines offer an advantage because they can easily be tweaked, if needed. 
Moderna’s goal isn’t to prevent people from getting norovirus entirely. That’s a high bar for any vaccine, and one that’s especially difficult to achieve with norovirus because the symptoms start within 12 to 24 hours of exposure, Fink said. Instead, the goal is to make people feel a little less awful and keep them from needing to see a doctor or go to the hospital if they do get it. 
The company sees the main opportunity in vaccinating seniors who are particularly vulnerable to norovirus complications like dehydration. People 65 and up make up the majority of the estimated 900 Americans who die from norovirus complications in the U.S., according to the CDC. 
Moderna also sees health-care workers, daycare workers and other teachers who are exposed to young children as possible target populations, Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel said last week at the JP Morgan Health Care Conference. People going on cruises is another possibility, he said, since the virus can spread easily on ships where people are living in tight quarters. 
Investors are questioning whether Moderna can make the shot a commercially viable opportunity – if, of course, the vaccine works, said RBC analyst Luca Issi. He sees the shot being used mostly to protect people living in nursing homes or going on cruises. 
At this point, Moderna isn’t testing the vaccine in children, who are also vulnerable to norovirus. But if the shot works in adults, Moderna would be obligated to study it in children, Doran said. More

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Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick said his bank will be working with U.S. regulators to examine whether it can deepen its involvement in cryptocurrency markets.
Pick was asked about his views on digital currencies under the pro-crypto Trump administration.
“For us, the equation is really around whether we, as a highly regulated financial institution, can act as transactors,” Pick said.

Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick said Thursday that his bank will be working with U.S. regulators to examine whether it can deepen its involvement in cryptocurrency markets.
Pick was asked about his views on digital currencies under the pro-crypto Trump administration. On Tuesday, the acting head of the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an effort to develop a regulatory framework for the nascent asset class.

“For us, the equation is really around whether we, as a highly regulated financial institution, can act as transactors,” Pick told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“We’ll be working with Treasury and the other regulators to figure out how we can offer that in a safe way,” Pick said.
Morgan Stanley, a juggernaut in the wealth management industry, has been repeatedly ahead of its peers when it comes to crypto. It was the first major U.S. bank to offer bitcoin funds to its rich clients in 2021, and last year it took the lead on offering bitcoin exchange-traded funds. That’s because the firm’s financial advisors were getting questions from clients about bitcoin exposure, sources told CNBC at the time.
But under the Biden administration, banks were prohibited from getting deep into the asset class; their trading desks dabbled in bitcoin derivatives but couldn’t own the “physical” bitcoin. It’s a point that Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon reiterated this week.
“At the moment, from a regulatory perspective, we can’t own” bitcoin, Solomon told CNBC’s Sorkin. “If the world changes, we can have a discussion about it,” he said.

‘Escape velocity’

When it comes to bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency that traces its origin to the 2008 financial crisis, its staying power through volatile trading and industry scandals over the years may prove critical, according to Morgan Stanley’s Pick. One bitcoin now trades for more than $100,000.
“The broader question is whether some of this has come of age, whether it’s hit escape velocity,” Pick said. “You know, time is the friend [of crypto]; the longer it trades, perception becomes reality.”
Earlier this week, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan also signaled a willingness to embrace crypto if regulators allowed it, saying it would be another form of retail payments for customers of the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets.
“If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard,” Moynihan said. “We have hundreds of patents on blockchain already, we know how to enter the field.”

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Adidas will cut as many as 500 jobs as it looks to simplify its business.
“We… found that, in an ever-changing world, we are too complex because of our current operating model,” a spokesperson told CNBC.
The company cautioned the layoffs are not a cost-cutting effort and are designed to get staffing in line with how the business has been operating over the past two years.

Adidas shoes are displayed at a DSW store in Novato, California, on Jan. 31, 2024.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Adidas plans to cut as many as 500 jobs in a bid to simplify its business, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNBC on Thursday. 
The layoffs will affect employees at Adidas’ headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, and represent nearly 9% of the 5,800 staffers it employs at the location. 

The company has not determined how many jobs it will cut, but up to 500 positions could be affected, a source told CNBC. Adidas will decide the final number when it is further along in its process. 
Employees learned about the cuts on Wednesday, just one day after Adidas announced what it called better-than-expected preliminary profit results for its holiday quarter and 19% sales growth. It is expecting sales to grow to 5.97 billion euros, ahead of the 5.68 billion euros that analysts had expected ahead of the announcement, according to LSEG. 
In a statement to CNBC, a spokesperson said Adidas’ current operating model has become “too complex” and the cuts are designed to simplify operations. 
“To set adidas up for long-term success we are now starting to look at how we align our operating model with the reality of how we work. This may have an impact on the organizational structure and number of roles based at our HQ in Herzogenaurach,” the spokesperson said. “We will now start to work closely with the Works Council to ensure that any changes are handled with the utmost respect and care of all employees.” 
The layoffs are not part of a cost-cutting program, but more of an effort to adapt its business to how it has changed over the past couple of years, the spokesperson said.

Adidas has been restructuring its business and capped off 2024 on a high note with sales and profits that came in higher than analysts and the company expected. 
It has leaned on its classic Samba and Gazelle styles to boost sales and has also benefited from a slowdown at Nike, its biggest competitor. 

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Top sports agent Jeff Schwartz said the pay discrepancy between men’s and women’s basketball “blatantly unfair.”
Schwartz’s Excel Sports Management represents more than 500 clients and has negotiated billions in athlete contracts over the years.
WNBA players are currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the league.

The WNBA has a salary problem, and it’s “blatantly unfair to its players,” according to top sports agent Jeff Schwartz.
Schwartz, who founded and runs Excel Sports Management, told Alex Sherman in a CNBC Sport interview that something has to change when it comes to compensation in the women’s basketball league.

“It’s ridiculous what women are getting paid in the WNBA,” Schwartz said.
And he would know. Schwartz’s firm represents more than 500 clients and has negotiated billions in athlete contracts over the years. Excel represents some of the biggest athletes in the country, from Caitlin Clark to Tiger Woods to Peyton and Eli Manning.
Schwartz’s comments come as the WNBA had a record 2024 season, shattering viewership, attendance and merchandise records led by stars like Clark. Yet, WNBA salaries currently range from the league minimum of $64,154 to the maximum of $241,948. (Players also receive full benefits and may be eligible for award bonuses.)
To put that in perspective, in the NBA, the league minimum is now $1.15 million and the average salary is more than $11 million, according to data from Sports Reference.
While many are quick to blame the WNBA for the pay inequalities, it’s not always apples to apples. The NBA has been around for more than 75 years and brings in billions of dollars in corporate sponsorships. The WNBA is heading into its 29th season and plays only four months out of the year.

Still, female professional pickleball players are now making more than WNBA stars, averaging $260,000 per year, according to salary data from the United Pickleball Association.
In October, WNBA players opted out of their collective bargaining agreement in a bid to seek bigger payouts, among other contract improvements. The players and league have until 2027 to agree to updated terms.
The WNBA declined to comment.

Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever brings the ball up the court against the Dallas Wings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on September 15, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
Justin Casterline | Getty Images

Schwartz, whose firm also represents Napheesa Collier, founder of a new startup basketball league called Unrivaled, also commented on player equity in sports. As part of Unrivaled’ s compensation plan, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league is offering players equity in the league.
Unrivaled, which kicked off earlier this month, says it has the highest average player salary of any professional women’s sports league. Players in the league have an average salary of more than $220,000, according to a person familiar with the league, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic matters.
Schwartz said he doesn’t see the more-established professional leagues giving up equity to players anytime soon, but that for some of the newer leagues like Unrivaled it makes sense.
“I think players having ownership in what you do is a great thing,” he said.
Watch the full CNBC Sport interview with Schwartz.

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