You can’t blame falling foot traffic for pushing mall retailers to close stores.

“After a relatively weak summer performance, malls rebounded sharply in October 2025, with foot traffic to indoor malls, open-air shopping centers, and outlet malls rising significantly both year over year (YoY) and month over month (MoM),” according to data from Placer.ai.

That’s likely a good sign for the holiday season.

“All mall formats saw clear YoY visit gains in October 2025, potentially signaling renewed consumer enthusiasm heading into the holiday season. And although indoor malls led the growth – continuing their strong performance throughout 2025 – open-air shopping centers and outlet malls also returned to positive territory after four consecutive months of declines, underscoring the breadth and strength of the October recovery,” it added.

Placer.ai, however, measures foot traffic and not purchases. People may be going back to the mall to get ready for holiday shopping, but that does not mean they’re buying.

Mall stalwarts Macy’s and JCPenney have both closed stores this year, as have other key mall players.

Mall retailers closing stores in 2025

  • Forever 21: Entered bankruptcy and is closing all 350 U.S. stores as of 2025.
    Source: The Wall Street Journal
  • Claire’s: Announced the closure of 235 Claire’s stores and 56 Icing stores (291 total) in North America by September 2025, as part of restructuring.
    Source: TheStreet
  • Torrid: Planning to close 40-50 stores, later increased to 180 closures in 2025 as it shifts toward a more digital-focused model.
    Source: TheStreet
  • Macy’s: Set to close 66 underperforming stores in 2025 as part of a larger plan (~150 stores by 2026) to shrink its footprint.
    Source: The Street
  • JCPenney: Announced the closure of eight stores by mid-2025 due to expiring leases and market conditions (not a full footprint reduction).
  • Joann (Joann Fabrics & Crafts): Closed all 850 stores after a second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
    Source: PacerMonitor

Another mall staple has been closing stores, but it has done so quietly without making a public announcement about the shutdowns.

Mall anchor stores have been struggling.

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Dillard’s has been struggling

Dillard’s CEO William T. Dillard II shared cautiously optimistic comments on his chain’s most recent quarter in its second-quarter earnings release.

“We were happy to achieve a sales increase for the first time in a while and encouraged by strengthening sales trends in July. In an operating environment that changes daily, we focused on controlling inventory, ending up 2% compared to 6% at the end of first quarter.”

Dillard’s Q2 highlights:

  • Total retail sales increased 1%.
  • Comparable store sales increased 1%.
  • Net income of $72.8 million compared to $74.5 million.
  • Earnings per share of $4.66 compared to $4.59.
  • Retail gross margin of 38.1% of sales compared to 39.1% of sales.
  • Operating expenses were $434.2 million (28.7% of sales) compared to $433.6 million (29.1% of sales).
  • Ending inventory increased 2%.

Those are encouraging numbers, but they have not stopped the chain from selectively closing certain locations.

These Dillard’s stores are closing (or have closed):

  • 1120 Old Fort Parkway, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Stones River Town Centre): The Murfreesboro Dillard’s closed permanently in January.
    The chain sent a Nov. 13 letter to the city’s mayor from Dean L. Worley, general counsel for Dillard’s Inc.

    “The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the Dillard’s store located in Stones River Mall (now called Stones River Town Centre), 1120 Old Fort Parkway, Murfreesboro, TN 37129, will cease its operation and be closed in its entirety on a date no earlier than Jan. 17, 2025, and no later than January 31, 2025,” the letter states. “We anticipate that the closing will be permanent.”

    Source: investor.dillards.com

  • Eastwood Mall Clearance Center, Niles, Ohio: A 120,000-sq-ft clearance center closed during fiscal 2024.
    Source: investor.dillards.com
  • Santa Rosa Mall, Mary Esther, Florida: A leased location of 115,000 square feet was closed in fiscal 2023.
    Source: investor.dillards.com
  • Conestoga Mall, Grand Island, Nebraska: An 80,000-sq-ft leased Dillard’s location closed in fiscal 2023.
    Source: investor.dillards.com
  • Metrocenter Mall, Phoenix, Arizona: A 90,000-sq-ft clearance-center location closed in fiscal 2023.
    Source: investor.dillards.com
  • 2501 Dallas Parkway, The Shops at Willow Bend, Plano, Texas: Announced closure planned for early 2026.
    Source: Community Impact
  • Three stores announced for closure during current quarter
    Santa Rosa Mall, Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. (115,000 sq ft)

    Conestoga Mall, Grand Island, Neb. (80,000 sq ft)

    Metrocenter Mall, Phoenix, Ariz. (90,000 sq ft)

    Source: Shop! Association

Dillard’s is in a strong position

While Macy’s and JCPenney have had widespread closures, Dillard’s store shutdowns have been limited.

“Our belief is that [Dillard’s] has found its operating sweet spot with fewer stores and employees in the right locations,” Zachary Warring, equity analyst at CFRA Research shared back in 2023 when the chain started closing locations. “We believe [it] will continue to operate more efficiently than pre-pandemic levels, has a fortress balance sheet, and will continue to return significant capital to shareholders.”

He also saluted the brand’s performance in a 2025 comment to Retail Dive, but his overall opinion was mixed.

“We believe [Dillard’s] is operating the best of all Department stores, however, the sub industry continues to experience a slow decline,” Warring said by email. “We see little to get us excited as the share buyback pace has declined in recent quarters.”

UBS analysts led by Mauricio Serna were less bullish on Dillard’s, commenting in the same article.

“Our research indicates Dillard’s position is not strong enough to gain share within brick and mortar,” Serna shared. “We model higher online sales, but believe this growth will not offset declining store revenues.”