The impact of e-commerce on chain stores and local businesses is undeniable. In 2020, Georgia is set to see the closing of a number of chain stores under roughly 13 major brands for the state as reported by Patch. Below is a list of five relevant to our region.

Walgreens announced its closing of about 200 stores nationwide is the United States after making reference to doing similar in the United Kingdom in 2019. The Form 8-K Walgreens released estimated a total of $600 – $700 million worth of charges in “Employee Severance and Business Transition”.

Sears will be closing their location in Douglasville, as told by USA Today, as one of the “3,500 stores [closed]… in the past 15 years”. Sears/Kmart will also, collectively, be closing 95 other stores this year leaving them with only 182 stores total.

Bed Bath & Beyond plans major revamps for all its locations— or at least those preforming as expected. If a store is under performing they “expect to… close underperforming stores or relocate stores to improve sales and profitability on a per-store basis”.

Payless filed bankruptcy back in 2017 which resulted in the closing of hundreds of stores. Payless announced its final liquidation for February 17, 2019. In the Valdosta area saw the liquidation and closing of its stores as well. Many of the Payless brands are still avaiable through Amazon.

Pier 1 closed a little over 150 stores were expected to close over the course of this past year. Back in April 2019, USA Today reported that Pier 1 Imports is moving toward “bankruptcy restructuring”, according to a major credit rating agency.