Did you know that more stores were closed in the United States last year than ever before? More than 8,000 stores were permanently shuttered in 2025, and it appears that 2026 will be even worse. U.S. consumers have very little discretionary income to spend these days, and empty stores litter the landscape. If you live in a relatively prosperous area in our "K-shaped economy", there may be just a few empty stores where you live. But if you live in a depressed area of the country, you may be faced with constant reminders of our retail apocalypse because there are abandoned stores virtually everywhere that you go. The wealthy are still spending lots of money at retailers, but things have gotten very tight for the rest of us. As a result, we are witnessing a tsunami of store closures that is unlike anything that has ever happened in the entire history of our nation.

Coresight Research is reporting that a whopping 8,234 stores were permanently closed in the United States in 2025…

Data shared with Daily Mail last month shows 8,234 US stores permanently closed last year – a staggering figure that marks a fresh blow to brick-and-mortar retail.

That's 12 percent more than last year's total of 7,325 closures, according to Coresight Research, and the highest number ever recorded.

We set the bar really high in 2024, and then we smashed that number by 12 percent in 2025.

Is that a good sign for the U.S. economy or a bad sign?

Needless to say, if the U.S. economy really was in good shape thousands of stores wouldn't be closing.

And the number of store closings is a figure that government bureaucrats have no way to manipulate.

Stores either stay open or they get closed.

The fact that so many are being closed says a lot about where things are heading.

And this month there have been all sorts of signs that America's "retail apocalypse" is getting even worse.

For example, Francesca's has suddenly announced that all locations will be permanently closed and all inventory will be liquidated…

Nationwide women's clothing brand Francesca's has begun the process of closing all store locations, Women's Wear Daily reports.

A customer service representative told the outlet the company was "liquidating our inventory and closing soon." Francesca's didn't confirm the news publicly or provide any further details.

The company, which began in Houston in 1999, lists more than 450 locations across 45 states on its website. As of Monday, the site was advertising "last chance" warehouse clearance sales.

Francesca's says it employs more than 3,400 associates.