The Connecticut-based Ascena Retail Group is the latest chain store owner to jump on the Retailpocolypse bandwagon, announcing last Thursday that it would be closing somewhere between 250 and 650 of its locations over the course of the next two years. Those closures would include Ann Taylor, Dress Barn and Lane Bryant locations.
Retail brick-and-mortar closures continue to mount up, and are generally being cited to several factors that include a switch to online shopping, an oversaturated retail market, and changes in customer spending habits.
Currently, there is only one Ann Taylor store in Columbus at Easton Town Center, Dress Barn operates four Central Ohio locations, and Lane Bryant has five locations in the region. All three brands also have outlet mall stores at both the Jeffersonville and Sunbury locations.
No details have been made available yet as to which stores will be closing, or what the timeline for the closures will be.
Other major national retailers that have announced store closures in 2017 include Michael Kors, Payless ShoeSource, Gander Mountain, Rue21, Gamestop, RadioShack, hhgregg, J.C. Penney, Wet Seal, American Apparel, The Limited and Macy’s.
For more information, visit www.ascenaretail.com.
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