similar opportunities because I think many more brick & mortar stores will be closing in 2025.
It’s a combination of high inflation and online shopping.
I'm never certain exactly why some chains thrive and some go under. I'm sure it's a combination of factors for many of the businesses.
I admit that I’m one of the culprits who shops mostly online. I don’t even really enjoy going to stores anymore and it’s so time-consuming. And you don’t know until you get there whether they’ll even have what you’re looking for. I am not into the thrill of the hunt at all. I just want to find what I need quickly and at a good price.
I can honestly go either way. Most of the time, I prefer to buy from a brick and mortar store, partly because I can see and feel for myself the quality of the product I'm considering buying (obviously this doesn't apply to, say, canned groceries or household products I've used for years, etc.) and partly because I like walking out of the store with the item in my hand instead of having to sweat out the delivery (when will it get here? Will it get here in time? What if it gets damaged en route? And how much will I be charged for delivery?). The stores prefer I shop in person as well; I often wind up making at least one impulse purchase <g>. But OTOH, I can appreciate the ease of shopping any time you want, at any business you want. I don't do a lot of online shopping but when I do, it's usually for something I can't find in any brick or mortar near me.
I'm honestly wondering if Chico's might close some of their stores in the not-too-distant future. This is all speculation based purely on my experience working at one specific store but...we don't get a lot of foot traffic. I worked from open to close on Wednesday; we had a total of six people in the store all day and only two had any sort of transaction (one had a return, one bought two no-iron blouses). Granted, it was Ash Wednesday, so not traditionally a day people think about shopping, and granted, we're a free-standing (sort of) store, meaning people have to get out of their car and walk inside solely to be in our store, as opposed to the Chico's stores that are inside malls and people can hit multiple stores once they've exited their vehicles.
Anyways...from what I hear, business is down somewhat, even from what's usual for this time of year. We have a fairly small customer base--we sell only women's clothes and accessories, most of our customers are, ahem, more mature, and prices are too high for some folks to afford--and it's mostly our older customers (65 and up) who come into the store as opposed to shopping online. So I can see us closing stores, maybe not in 2025 but some time soon.
Right now, I'm grateful for options. I'm grateful I can shop pretty much anywhere in the world, at any time, from the comfort of my home but I'm also grateful I can hop in the car and go grab a last minute ingredient for a recipe or read a book one chapter at a time over at Barnes and Noble without having to buy the book <g>.
