2026 Store Closures Are Down From Last Year, But Louisiana Is Still Losing Familiar Names

LAFAYETTE, La. — The wave of retail closures that reshaped shopping across Louisiana and the country in 2025 is continuing into 2026, though analysts say the worst of it may be behind us.

Coresight Research projects roughly 7,900 U.S. stores will close this year, a 4.5 percent drop from the 8,270 that actually shut down in 2025. That 2025 final count was itself far below the 15,000 closures some analysts had forecast early in the year, which means the worst-case predictions didn’t pan out. The pressure on brick-and-mortar retail is real, but it’s not the apocalypse some headlines suggested.

That said, stores are still closing — and some of the 2026 closures hit Louisiana directly. For shoppers here, the list is a mix of national chain pullbacks and at least one story that’s entirely our own.

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A Louisiana Chain in Trouble: Brothers Food Mart and Magnolia Express

The most locally significant retail story of early 2026 got almost no national attention, but anyone who shops in Jefferson Parish knows both of these brands.

LKM Convenience LLC, a Metairie-based operator of convenience stores and gas stations under the Brothers Food Mart and Magnolia Express names, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Eastern District of Louisiana on January 14, 2026. The company sought relief under Subchapter V of the bankruptcy code, which provides a streamlined reorganization process for small business debtors.

The filing traces partly to lingering Hurricane Ida damage from 2021, which destroyed LKM’s Bridge City Drive facility and set off years of legal disputes with sublessees and landlords over unpaid rent. Chapter 11 reorganization means LKM is trying to restructure its finances and keep operating, not necessarily shut down. But the filing signals serious financial strain for a company with locations throughout Jefferson Parish.

Brothers Food Mart itself is a New Orleans institution, founded in 1989 and long known for its fried chicken. The brand has passed through multiple ownership changes over the years. LKM is a store operator and leaseholder, not the brand owner, so the bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily mean Brothers Food Mart locations across Louisiana are closing.

Saks Off 5th: Louisiana Confirmed on the Closure List

Saks Global, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and its outlet division Saks Off 5th, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is moving to close roughly 57 Saks Off 5th locations in early 2026. Louisiana is specifically named among the affected states, along with Alabama, Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The Saks Off 5th at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie is the most likely Louisiana location affected. Neiman Marcus Last Call outlet stores are also being closed as part of the same bankruptcy restructuring.

Francesca’s: All Locations Closing

Francesca’s, the women’s clothing boutique that ran for more than 25 years across malls nationwide, is closing all of its approximately 400 remaining U.S. locations after filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early February 2026. A potential investor pulled out in late December 2025. Two major suppliers then lost their own lender financing, cutting off product delivery. The company’s lenders issued a notice of default in January. With no new financing secured, the company said continued operations weren’t possible.

Roughly 3,000 jobs are being eliminated nationwide. Louisiana mall shoppers with a local Francesca’s will see liquidation sales before those stores go dark.

Five Guys: One Louisiana Location Closing

At least 14 Five Guys locations are closing or will close in the first half of 2026 across seven states, and Louisiana is among them. Five Guys is a privately held company and hasn’t released a full list of affected locations, so the specific Louisiana closure hasn’t been publicly confirmed by name. Local media reports and the Five Guys store locator have indicated at least one Louisiana location is out.

The broader picture: fast food traffic was down 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, according to Revenue Management Solutions. Consumers are watching their spending, and for a chain where a meal for two can easily top $40, that’s a harder position to hold than it is for value competitors.

GameStop: Accelerating Closures

GameStop is closing more than 470 stores to start 2026, well above what the company initially projected. The chain closed nearly 600 U.S. locations in 2024, and this round continues a contraction that’s been underway for years as game sales moved online and to consoles with digital storefronts. According to Coresight Research, GameStop leads all U.S. retailers in planned closures for 2026.

Walgreens: Pulling Back on Prior Closure Plans

Walgreens announced in 2024 that it would close 1,200 locations by 2027. In 2026, the company is scaling that back sharply, with fewer than 100 locations now expected to close this year, compared to the 500 that closed in 2025.

Louisiana has had Walgreens locations in more than 60 cities and towns, with Lafayette Parish alone having carried as many as 11 locations in recent years. No specific Louisiana closures have been announced for 2026.

Eddie Bauer: All Stores Closing Unless a Buyer Steps In

Outdoor apparel retailer Eddie Bauer filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to close all 175 of its U.S. and Canada stores by April 30, 2026, barring a last-minute sale to a new owner. Shoppers with Eddie Bauer gift cards or loyalty rewards should use them quickly, since those benefits are typically suspended early in bankruptcy proceedings.

Carter’s: Steady Closures Through 2026

Children’s clothing retailer Carter’s confirmed it will close about 100 low-margin stores in 2026, with the remaining 50 closures in a 150-store reduction plan coming by 2028. The company cited tariffs as a contributing factor, saying in a press release that new import tariffs implemented by the Trump administration significantly impacted its business operations.

Macy’s: Still Closing, But Nearing the End of Its Reduction Plan

Macy’s is closing 14 additional stores in 2026 as part of its three-year “Bold New Chapter” plan to eliminate 150 underperforming locations by year’s end. The current round spans 12 states, and Louisiana is not among them.

When the full plan is complete, Macy’s will operate roughly 350 stores. The company says its 125 revamped “Reimagine” locations are already outperforming the broader chain, so the strategy appears to be working on that end.

Read More: Macy's Plans To Reduce Store Count — More Stores Closing

Restaurants Pulling Back: Pizza Hut and Wendy’s

Physical retail isn’t the only sector pulling back. Pizza Hut is closing 250 underperforming stores in the first half of 2026 as part of its “Hut Forward” turnaround, with closures expected to wrap by July 1. Wendy’s is closing around 300 locations, roughly 5 to 6 percent of its U.S. footprint, going location by location to identify the weakest performers. Neither chain has released a list of specific closures, and no Louisiana locations have been publicly identified.

Kroger: 60 Stores Over 18 Months

Kroger announced in mid-2025 that it would close 60 underperforming locations over 18 months following the collapse of its proposed merger with Albertsons. Confirmed closures so far are concentrated in Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, and a handful of other states. Louisiana doesn’t have any Kroger-branded stores, though the closures are also working through Kroger-owned banners like Harris Teeter and Pick ‘n Save in other parts of the country.

What’s Still Growing

The closure picture doesn’t tell the whole story. Value retailers are expanding aggressively, and Louisiana is seeing some long-awaited arrivals.

Dollar General, Aldi, and Tractor Supply lead the nation in planned store openings for 2026. Consumers stretched by inflation are gravitating toward lower price points, and those chains are following the demand. Coresight expects U.S. retailers to open about 5,500 new stores this year, up 4.4 percent from 2025.

Closer to home, Trader Joe’s is still under construction at its Lafayette location on Camellia Boulevard near River Ranch, with the company telling reporters in late March that it expects to open in three to six months, putting the opening sometime this summer or early fall. Acadiana shoppers have been waiting years for it. Buc-ee’s is moving forward on both of its Louisiana locations, with the Ruston store now targeting an April 2027 opening and the Lafayette location aiming for July 2027 after earlier delays had pushed the timeline to 2028.

What’s Driving the Continued Pressure

The factors behind these closures haven’t changed much from 2025. Inflation has kept consumer spending cautious, especially for lower- and middle-income households. Online shopping is taking a bigger share of sales that used to go to physical stores. Rents, labor costs, and supply chain expenses are all up. And many of these retailers are still carrying financial damage from the pandemic years.

“These store closures aren’t some big economic meltdown,” retail finance expert Michael Ryan told Newsweek. “They’re the retail sector finally admitting what we’ve all been watching happen in slow motion for years.”

Coresight’s head of global research, John Mercer, expects some of those headwinds to ease gradually, but calls 2026 “an incremental improvement over 2025, not a major inflection point.”

For Louisiana families, the practical question hasn’t changed either: which of these closures affects where you actually shop, and what opens in its place. In some communities, the answer to that second part is nothing. That’s the part of this story worth paying attention to.