It's the absolute worst when you go to Google a store's hours and you find out they closed! This happens very often in our area (especially lately).

So I rounded up a list of which local retailers are likely to close their doors forever in 2019.

- Barnes & Nobles- After their Nook e-reader failed, and many people no longer reading paper copies of books, stores are not able to stay open.

A report on the Motley Fool mentioned that they haven't done much to reverse sales trends. They tired minor tests of selling alcohol in their cafes, but there is no real turnaround plan for Barnes & Noble, as sales have declined.

"While the bookseller isn't in imminent danger of closing, it's hard to see how the brand recaptures any sort of relevance to reverse its slide," they wrote on Motley Fool.

- Best Buy - It used to be the "go-to" store for electronics, but people now seem to find lower prices elsewhere. The chain has already closed their stores South Brunswick and Howell. In fact, there are only about 26 Best Buy stores remaining in New Jersey, according to Patch.

- Mattress Firm - They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this fall. In fact, Mattress Firm quickly closed 209 locations as part of their restructuring plans.

In our area, those closures impacted their Lawrence and East Windsor stores. The closures may not end there, as It's estimated that up to 700 stores could close in total, according to the Business Insider.

- Sears and Kmart- Trouble for both of these stores has been a long time coming since they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Many of their locations will actually be closed before January 1.

There were about 2,000 Sears locations nationwide back in 2013, according to The Business Insider. As of today, it's estimated that Sears operates less than 500 stores.

Additionally, we saw Brookstone & Toys R Us close their doors in 2018, with little hope of those retailers returning. Of course, many retailers have moved strictly to online sales, so some brick & mortar stores may disappear forever.

Additionally, a report from Patch.com says Modells, Lord & Taylor & Sam's Club could also disappear in 2019. Read more about that here.

 

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