Retailers are constantly adapting to evolving shopping habits to keep customers coming to their stores. In many cases over the last several years, that has meant shuttering brick-and-mortar locations and pulling out of the malls that once served as the center of the American shopping experience. Now, several clothing chains, including Marshalls and H&M, are losing certain locations. Read on to find out more about these upcoming closures, which start this week.
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Marshalls will be closing a location next month.
Marshalls is moving forward with plans to drop one of its stores soon. The discount retailer will permanently close a location in New York City next month, iLovetheUpperWestSide.com reported on Jan. 31.
According to the local news outlet, the Marshalls located on 78th Street in the city's Upper West Side neighborhood will have its last day of business on March 25.
Last month, Marshalls also closed one store in Minneapolis and another in Philadelphia, as a result of the company "assessing and reviewing [its] real estate strategies," Andrew Mastrangelo, vice president for communications at Marshalls parent company TJX, previously told Best Life.
But an isolated issue may be contributing to the upcoming New York closure. An employee from the Upper West Side Marshalls told iLovetheUpperWestSide.com over the phone that the store was "closing for safety, due to problems in the building."
In a new statement to Best Life, Mastrangelo did not reference any building concerns, however. Instead, he provided a similar reasoning for the New York closure as he did for the past two Marshalls closures.
"We are always assessing and reviewing our real estate strategies, and our decision to close this store reflects that thinking," he said. "We are grateful for the loyalty of our New York customers and invite them to visit our nearby stores to continue to find great values."
H&M is also shuttering a store in March.
Marshalls is not the only major clothing chain planning to make changes next month. H&M is also set to close at least one of its U.S. stores soon, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal recently reported.
According to the newspaper, H&M will be permanently shuttering its store in Tupelo, Mississippi. As with the Marshalls closure, this H&M—which is located in The Mall at Barnes Crossing—is closing for good in March.
Best Life reached out to H&M to find out more about the Tupelo store closure and to see if an exact date has been set, but has not yet heard back.
A different clothing store is closing before both of these chains.
It's not just bigger clothing chains planning store closures. Customers in Circleville, Ohio, should be preparing to lose a beloved retailer well before the Marshalls and H&M stores shut down.
Sharff’s Fashion announced on Jan. 30 that it would be closing its Circleville store in the coming days after 76 years in this community, the Scioto Valley Guardian reported. The store will start its closing sale this Friday, Feb. 3, and will close once all inventory is sold, according to the newspaper.
"I am proud to have been part of the Sharff’s story for 46 years, beginning as a buyer in 1976 and eventually becoming sole owner," Sharff's Fashion owner Doug Baker wrote in a statement posted to the store's official Facebook page. "I understand many of you will be disappointed by this announcement. I wish I was younger, but unfortunately this is not the case. At age 72, it is time for me to retire."
Sharff's Fashion operated as a smaller-scale chain for many years. The retailer opened its first location in Logan, Ohio, in 1944 before expanding to nearby cities such as Circleville, Newark, Lancaster, Nelsonville, and Athens, according to The Logan Daily News.
By the end of 2019, however, only the Logan and Circleville locations were still in business, according to the newspaper. The Sharff's Fashion in Logan then closed for good in 2021, meaning the upcoming Circleville closure will mark the end of the company.
Express also just closed a store.
One clothing chain has already lost a location. Pennsylvania residents just lost an Express, which shuttered its location in Wilkes Barre on Jan. 28, the Scranton Times-Tribune reported.
Like the soon-to-be-shuttered H&M store, the Wilkes Barre Express was located in a mall—in this case, the Wyoming Valley Mall—reflecting the current migration retailers are making away from these former shopping hubs.
