3 retail brands that vanished after 2025 bankruptcies

It has been a bleak year for retailers.

A number of major chains have closed their doors forever, and other retailers, including Kohl's, J.C. Penney, and Macy's, have trimmed their store portfolios in meaningful ways. The

Final numbers are not in for the year, but the predictions have been bleak.

"Following a raft of store closures in 2024, retail advisory firm Coresight Researchpredicts that closures will escalate further this year, to approximately 15,000. Store openings are expected to remain steady at approximately 5,800 (compared to 5,970 in 2024), but that would still represent a net loss of more than 9,000 stores," Retail TouchPoints shared.

Numbers like that tend to not mean much to people — they're simply too big to visualize — but visiting your local mall and seeing chains like GameStop, Claire's (which survived a bankruptcy filing), and Foot Locker, which has been purchased by Dick's Sporting Goods, missing tends to drive the point home.

Our local malls have lost Macy's, Sears, and Dillard's stores over the past few years, only to see them replaced with an indoor adventure park at one mall, a Dick's in another, and a boarded-up wall at the third shows the sobering reality.

“Retailers that were unable to adapt supply chains and implement technology to cut costs were significantly impacted, and we continue to see a trend of consumers opting for the path of least resistance. Not only do they want the best prices, but they also have no patience for stores that are constantly disorganized, out of stock, and that deliver poor customer service," said Deborah Weinswig, CEO of Coresight Research, in a statement reported by RetailTouchPoints.

Many retailers struggled this year, but four big names filed for bankruptcy and no longer operate brick-and-mortar stores, and in some cases, have closed entirely.

Party City: Filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed nearly all stores

"Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late December 2024 with a liquidation plan to wind down its entire U.S. store base (about 700 locations), and by early 2025 all corporate-owned retail locations were closed as part of the liquidation plan," reported Retail Dive.

• Bankruptcy restructuring case information for Party City Holdco Inc. is available via Kroll’s official restructuring administration site. cases.ra.kroll.com
• Party City Holdco Inc. is listed as defunct in 2025, with only independent/franchise or Canadian operations remaining under separate ownership.
  All remaining locations can be found on the Party City website.

Joann: Chapter 11 and complete store liquidation

• Joann Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 15, 2025 (Case No. 25-10068), according to the official restructuring administration listing, cases.ra.kroll.com.
• Court filings show the company pursued a store closure and liquidating sale process of its assets and store inventory as part of the bankruptcy plan, according to PacerMonitor.
• After months of closures, reporting says all remaining Joann stores (about 800) were slated to close by May 2025, and its intellectual property was later acquired by another company separate from the store operations.

"The Michaels Companies, Inc. today announced it has successfully completed the acquisition of the intellectual property and private label brands of Joann, including the development of the beloved Big Twist brands as part of the Michaels portfolio," Michaels reported in a press release.

More Retail:

• Costco sees major shift in member behavior
• Retail chain shuts all locations as legal changes hit industry
• Lululemon struggles to reverse concerning customer behavior
• T-Mobile launches free offer for customers after major loss

In addition, Michaels is expanding its fabric, sewing, and yarn assortment, adding over 600 products across new and existing brands, including sewing and quilting supplies, fabric, yarn, specialty threads, sewing machines, and more.

• Outcome: Joann’s physical retail chain ceased operations in 2025 after the second bankruptcy and closure of all stores, marking the end of the longstanding craft chain’s traditional stores, reported TheStreet.

Rite Aid: Chapter 11 and liquidation of remaining stores

• Rite Aid Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a second time on May 5, 2025 closing down stores as it worked through bankruptcy proceedings (Case No. 25-14861), with proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, according to Kroll Restructuring.
• An earlier restructuring in 2024 failed to stabilize the business, the company closed all of its remaining pharmacies and liquidated its assets by late 2025, CNN reported.
• The official Restructuring Administration case provides procedural updates on the bankruptcy process and docket, indicating the company’s Chapter 11 filings and asset disposition, according to Kroll Restructuring.

“All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers for their many years of support,” the company said in a statement on its website.

Does forever truly mean forever?

Consumers have a right to be skeptical when it comes to brands closing and going away "forever." In recent memory, Bed Bath and Beyond and Big Lots, closed all their stores, only to make returns under different owners.

Think about how hard it is to build a brand in today’s world,” Greg Portell, lead partner in the global consumer practice of consulting firm Kearney told Retail Dive. “It’s really difficult.”

Buying a brand, he noted, can be a shortcut to consumer recognition, but it's about more than just recycling a name.

“The critical component to that is whether I’m going to use that name or not. The collection of brands simply to have a logo on a webpage is very shortsighted,” Portell said. “If I’m planning on monetizing that brand and bringing new life to it, then it becomes incredibly valuable. Because building that brand up is really hard.”

It's hard to keep a well-known brand down.

"Several retail brands are reopening stores after trips through bankruptcy, emerging with scaled-back locations under new ownership and featuring a narrower product mix," wrote Licensing International's Mark Seavy.

Multiple recently bankrupt retail brands have made quick comebacks.

"Bed Bath & Beyond (now Bed Bath & Beyond Home), The Container Store, and Big Lots all filed for bankruptcy protection and sold their brand assets to new owners. Now, they are all focused on discounting and will compete in some markets with the likes of Ross Stores, Burlington, and TJ Maxx," he shared.

Related: Another U.S. liquor brand files Chapter 11 bankruptcy