Mid-Year Recap: Retailers continue to expand despite challenges

Features

Mid-Year Recap: Retailers continue to expand despite challenges
 
Published Monday, July 28, 2025 11:00 am
by Marianne Wilson

This is a summary

"From C-suite shakeups and bankruptcies to sticky inflation, tariff threats and anxious consumers, it’s been a challenging year so far for the retail industry. Uncertainty seems to be the dominant theme, among consumers and retailers alike.

There’s no denying that the pace of store closures picked up considerably  these past six months, as former retail giants Party City, Joann, Forever 21 and, most recently, Rite Aid, all go dark. (On a brighter note, Big Lots got a last-minute reprieve and has been re-opening stores under its new owner.)

But it’s not all doom and gloom, not by a longshot. Many retailers continue to expand. Burlington, Five Below, Nordstrom Rack, TJX Cos., Tractor Supply Co., Ollie’s, Boot Barn and Aldi are among the companies with robust expansion plans. And there are plenty more (including, of course, those perennial expanders Dollar General and Dollar Tree). Barnes & Noble has also returned to brick-and-mortar growth mode, with a smaller, more curated footprint."

Read the original on Chain Store Age

Mid-Year Recap: Retailers continue to expand despite challenges | Chain Store Age

Image credit to Alexander Fae on Unsplash


Send this page to a friend

Mid-Year Recap: Retailers continue to expand despite challenges | Chain Store Age

Recent News

How real estate intelligence is redefining retail growth

Retailers are expanding again—but with far more discipline. Today, it’s not about opening the most stores, but choosing locations that can truly win. Real estate intelligence is reshaping decisions by tying together customer movement, store performance and financial impact, allowing brands to validate formats faster, negotiate smarter and align real estate strategy with bottom-line results. The retailers who treat data as a daily habit—not a quarterly report—are the ones building portfolios that can flex with consumer behavior and stay future-proof.

Retail roulette: How Trump’s tariffs altered buying

Tariffs under the Trump administration have become so unpredictable that retailers are struggling to keep up, with costs shifting faster than buying teams can plan. Because orders are usually placed months—sometimes nearly a year—in advance, the on-again, off-again tariff changes have disrupted long-standing vendor relationships, forced last-minute capacity bets, and pushed buyers to reorder their entire sourcing strategies. Big names like Best Buy and Ikea have already shifted production away from China, while smaller retailers face far greater pressure as they juggle longer lead times, unreliable suppliers, and tighter holiday deadlines. As experts point out, this volatile trade environment is accelerating a major industry shift: retailers must evolve from lean, efficiency-focused supply chains to more flexible, resilient ones—or risk being left behind.

Ikea profits take a hit from tariffs, affordability effort

IKEA's net profit fell nearly one-third to 1.5 billion euros from 2.2 billion euros in fiscal year 2025, as the company absorbed the impact of U.S. tariffs and rising commodity prices while maintaining lower prices for franchisees and customers. Total revenues remained essentially flat at 26.3 billion euros, with total IKEA sales declining 1% to 44.6 billion euros due to lower wholesale prices introduced in 2024. Despite the profit decline, sales volumes grew 2.6% and store visits increased nearly 2%, reaching 915 million, as the company opened 66 new locations globally. IKEA plans to maintain current wholesale price levels in fiscal 2026 to ensure stability and affordability despite continued pressure on profitability.