Business Insider/Jessica Tyler We visited locations of most major department stores in 2018.
- Department stores are no longer in their heyday.
- Many department stores have had to close locations this year, including Sears and JCPenney.
- There are multiple factors hurting department stores' business, such as the rise of online shopping and declining foot traffic to malls.
- We visited locations of most major department stores this year and found one rose above the rest.
Department stores have had a rocky 2018.
Sears, Kmart, JCPenney, and Lord & Taylor have all closed stores this year.
There are a few reasons department stores had such a difficult year. The rise of e-commerce has created a major obstacle for department stores, many of which have been around for more than 100 years. Stores are being forced to face up against giants like Amazon and Walmart, and many are coming up short in their e-commerce offerings.
As a result of more shoppers turning to online stores, there's also been a decline in foot traffic to malls. Many mall-based department stores have been hit hard from the decrease in shoppers.
A disappearing middle class has also taken a toll on many mid-tier department stores. Shoppers are either looking for luxury products or looking for off-price, budget options. As a result, department stores that don't fall into either of these categories are struggling to win over shoppers.
But some have managed to overcome the obstacles that are being faced by most department stores. Macy's and Nordstrom both reported growth in the most recent quarter, with Macy's reporting comparable sales were up 3.1% in the third quarter and Nordstrom reporting comparable sales were up 2.3%.
We visited many major department stores in 2018, including Sears, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, and Macy's. Here's which store was in the best shape:
