UNITED STATES—If the start of 2026 is telling us anything, it may not be a good year for retailers. You might be asking how can I say that. They seem to continue to be disappearing by the minute and its scary as hell if you truly think about it. I had heard rumblings late 2025 that Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue were having some financial trouble, but I brushed it off.
I found out maybe 2-3 weeks ago, those rumblings had meat to them because I got an email from both companies about restructuring in the process and that they filed for bankruptcy. As a result, news just came out recently that Saks 5th Avenue, the discount version of Saks Fifth Avenue is planning to close a vast majority of its stores. Not a good sign, because if those discount stores are closing, it just raises the question of how soon before Saks Fifth Avenue or Neiman Marcus begins closing their actual stores.
I then just found out last week that a Sur La Table location at my local mall is now closing, and within 3 weeks at that. That stunned me because there hadn’t been any talk about the company or any locations closing, but apparently that is not the case. I think now there is ONLY 1 location in the entire state that I live in after it had closed a location at another mall a few years back. I can potentially get some good deals, but that depends if they’re already being cleaned out on all the items a cook, chef or anyone who knows their way around a kitchen hasn’t already purchased them.
Then the news comes this week that a company I have been purchasing my winter coats and gear from since high school is planning to close all of its stores in the United States. I’m referring to Eddie Bauer. Yeah, this stunned me because the company has been around for over 100 plus years. So, it was a dagger to the heart when I heard this. Why? One of the locations that I shopped at all the time recently closed in the summer 2025.
As a result, my shopping habit at the retailer had shifted because the only other location is a lot further than I’m willing to travel. Now, I’m about to see all of them vanish into thin air, so my favorite puffer coats, head gear, thermals, iconic sweaters and suit pants I will only be able to purchase online. That really isn’t going to work for me because I like to see, touch and feel what I’m buying before I actually buy it.
The idea of going on a website, clicking on items, having to put in my credit card information and then waiting for my items to arrive in the mail without a specific date is just not fun for me. This should be a major sign to Americans that that retail industry is in a crisis and if you don’t start shopping more in stores, everything is truly going to shift to online and that means a loss of jobs, a loss of income for plenty of Americans and we could be seeing the beginning of the end of the shopping mall as we know it. In addition, you will NOT be walking into stores to make returns anymore, you will be forced to ship them, which means you’re likely spending more money in the process.
The shopping mall is not just a place to purchase things, it’s a place to socialize, mingle and interact with others, and with more and more retailers vanishing it is becoming a scary place. I was recently at an outlet mall and stores that had been open around Christmas, guess what a month later they had already closed up shop. They’re gone people and they’re not coming back and that is starting to be happen more and more often than you can imagine. We can change that; the question remains rather the American public actually wants to make that happen.
Written By LaDale Anderson
