CLEVELAND (WJW) – Go-to companies for shopping and dining announced nationwide closures and bankruptcies in 2024.
Stores ranging from Advance Auto Parts, to JOANN Inc., have announced closures as well as restaurants such as Red Lobster and Wendy’s.
FOX 8 News has compiled a list of those business closures and/or bankruptcies, some of which will affect locations in Ohio.
Advance Auto Parts, which has more than 4,700 stores across nearly every state, announced its decision to close more than 700 locations as part of “a strategic plan to improve business performance” as part of its third-quarter update to investors.
The company’s footprint is expected to be cut by 523 Advance Auto Parts corporate stores, 204 independent locations and four distribution centers.
According to documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, American Freight will close all locations following a move by its parent company, Franchise Group, to file bankruptcy protection.
According to American Freight’s website, there are about a dozen Northeast Ohio locations. Closing sales were expected to begin Nov. 5.
Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September. In total, Big Lots has closed or announced the closure of 494 of its stores — that’s nearly 36% of the footprint the chain had at the start of the year.
Over 140 of those stores have already closed and been removed from the Big Lots website. Overall, Big Lots expected to close roughly 550 stores as part of its bankruptcy filing.
Buybuy Baby is going bye-bye – if you want to shop in person. The company announced plans to close all of its stores nationwide over the next few months.
In a statement released in October, the retailer said it would strengthen its online shopping experience as it moves to an online-only business model. Closing sales are underway at remaining stores and online.
Denny’s says it’s closing 150 of its lowest-performing restaurants in an effort to turn around the brand’s flagging sales.
About half of the closures will happen this year and the rest in 2025, the company said.
The parent company of Family Dollar announced plans to close 35 locations in Ohio and about a dozen in Northeast Ohio in a notice to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.
According to the notice, the closings occurred “on or about” April 20 and impacted about 260 employees. The announcement came after the company announced plans to close 1,000 stores nationwide.
The fabric and craft company announced in March that it entered into a Transaction Support Agreement with a majority of its financial stakeholders and additional industry financing parties to strengthen the Company’s financial position.
JOANN Inc. has more than 800 stores across the United States.
Red Lobster has marked one of its Ohio locations for closure after filing for bankruptcy. According to FOX Business, the Red Lobster at Southpark Center in Strongsville is on the closing list. The Strongsville restaurant is one of 23 additional locations that will be closing.
Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 in May. The latest expected closures bring the total closing list to 129 restaurants nationwide.
TGI Fridays has closed nearly 50 stores in the U.S.
TGI Fridays had 270 locations nationwide at the start of the year, according to CNN. In January, it closed 36 “underperforming” locations throughout the U.S. in order to “focus on streamlining operations.”
True Value, a well-known home improvement company, entered into a sale agreement with Do It Best. in October after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
All stores will remain open, with business remaining unaffected since the stores, except for one company-owned store in Palatine, Illinois, are independently owned and not directly a part of the Chapter 11 filing.
True Value has an international network of over 4,500 independently owned and operated stores.
Walgreens plans to close about 1,200 locations over the next three years as the drugstore chain seeks to turn around its struggling U.S. business.
The company said in October that about 500 store closures will come in the current fiscal year. Walgreens operates about 8,500 stores in the United States and a few thousand overseas. All of the stores that will be closed are in the United States.
One of central Ohio’s largest fast-food chains is planning to shut down 140 locations by the end of the year. Wendy’s President and CEO Kirk Tanner recently said he has decided to close 140 “underperforming” and “outdated” eateries across the country.
The chain, based in Dublin and known for hamburgers and Frostys, has 6,012 locations across the country.
