It's been a year of empty parking lots and signs in windows. Major restaurant and retailer chains have been tightening their belts against financial losses and eliminating "underperforming" locations either as part of a reorganization, a new strategy, or a bankruptcy.
LL Flooring is the latest big chain to announce store closings. Formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, the Richmond, Virginia-based company will close 94 stores in more than 30 states (including Florida) as it files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Last week, Orlando-based restaurant chain Buca Di Beppo also filed for Chapter 11 after closing nearly 20% of its locations in the last month, citing rising costs and hiring difficulty. But they're just the latest.
Here are the major retail and food chains that have closed locations in Florida so far in 2024. Scroll to read by month, or click the names to jump to that listing.
| Best Buy | Big Lots | Buca di Beppo | Conn's HomePlus | Dollar Tree | Macy's | Express, Inc | Family Dollar | Hooters | LL Flooring | Red Lobster | rue21 | TGI Fridays | Tijuana Flats | Walgreens | Walmart
January: TGI Fridays closed 36 restaurants, including 2 in Florida
Casual dining chain TGI Fridays — sometimes referred to simply as Fridays — announced at the beginning of the year that they were selling several restaurants in the Northeast and closing 36 underperforming locations around the country, including two in Florida.
The two locations closed were in Ormond Beach and Royal Palm Beach, leaving 21 TGI Fridays in Florida.
February: Macy's announces plans to shut 150 stores nationwide
Macy's, the 166-year-old retail giant, announced in February it was closing 150 "unproductive" stores nationwide as part of a massive reorganization.
No list was released and to date, none of the 41 locations in Florida seem to have closed. There's even a new one opening in the Waterford Lakes Town Center in Orlando on Aug. 24.
March: Family Dollar, Dollar Tree closing almost 1,000 stores
Ubiquitous discount store Family Dollar announced it would be closing about 600 stores over the first half of 2024, with another 370Family Dollar storesand 30Dollar Treestores closing over the next several years as leases expire.
No official list has been released, butmarketing website Usearch lists the following Florida Dollar Stores as having closed this year:
- Jacksonville:
- 6765 Dunn Ave
- 744 Edgewood Ave N
- 6044 Merrill Rd
- 7001 Merrill Rd
- 1556 Monument Rd
- 233 E State St
- Lakeland: 4945 US-92
- Madison: 244 Base Street
- Orlando: 7113 S Orange Blossom Trail
- Tallahassee: 540 W Brevard St
- Titusville: 708 Cheney Hwy
March: Best Buy announces 10 to 15 store closures in 2024
On an earnings call in March, electronic retailer Best Buy announced it expected to close 10 to 15 stores in 2024, following 17 stores the company closed in 2023.
No list has been provided, but these Florida locations on the Best Buy website are currently listed as closed temporarily or permanently.
- Fort Myers: 10033 Gulf Center Dr
- Jacksonville: 9355 Atlantic Blvd
- Miami: 11905 S Dixie Hwy
- Tampa: 18071 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy
April: Walmart to close 51 health centers in U.S. including 23 in Florida
Walmart announced it was closing all 51 of its health centers across the country including 23 in Florida, citing escalating operation costs and "challenging reimbursem*nt environment."
April: Tijuana Flats closing 11 locations
The Florida-based Tex-Mex restaurant Tijuana Flats also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this year and was purchased by Flatheads, LLC. The company announced it was closing 11 underperforming locations but more than that have shut down in Florida this year.
No list has been released but Yelp and Google listings label these locations as closed.
- Boynton Beach: 390 N Congress Ave
- Coconut Creek: 6970 State Road 7
- Gainesville: 1720 W. University Ave
- Fort Lauderdale: 1619 E. Sunrise Blvd
- Jacksonville: 9942 Old Baymeadows Road
- Miramar: 14633 Miramar Pkwy
- Oakland Park: 5065 Old Dixie Hwy
- Orlando:
- 4698 Gardens Park Blvd Ste 101
- 14152 Narcoossee Rd
- 7560 W Sand Lake Rd
- Plantation: 1371 S. University Dr
- Pompano Beach: 431 S. Federal Hwy
- Sarasota: 1635 S. Tamiami Trail
- Tampa:
- 17501 Preserve Walk Ln. #103
- 4027 S Dale Mabry Hwy
- West Boca Raton: 20401 State Road 7
- West Palm Beach: 2089 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd
- Westchase: 9520 W. Linebaugh Avenue
Another four Tijuana Flats locations were abruptly closed in Jacksonville in February.
May: Red Lobster closed 99 restaurants, including 17 in Florida
Cheddar Bay biscuit fans mourned when Red Lobster abruptly shuttered 99 restaurants across 28 states — including 17 in Florida — would be closed after itfiled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Weeks later, when the seafood chain that started in 1968 in Lakeland filed bankruptcy documents it listed 228 rejected leases the company said would keep losing money and might need to be closed. According to the doc, another 24 Florida locations could sink under the waves.
April: Express Inc. closing nearly 100 stores
Fashion Retailer Express Inc. announced it was closing nearly 100 stores across the country as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection plans, including five in Florida. Here's the list.
May: rue21 closing all its stores
Teen fashion retailer and mall staple rue21 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the third time and announced it was closing all its stores. Of the Warrendale, Pennsylvania-based chain's 543 stores, Florida is home to 30 of them. Here's the list.
June: Hooters across the country shut down without warning
Fans of chicken wings, beer and women in short shorts woke up June 22 to find that about 40 Hooters restaurants abruptly closed. That included at least four in Florida. Locals said that the Lakeland locations was the second Hooters ever opened, in 1984.
“Like many restaurants under pressure from current market conditions,Hooters has made the difficult decision to closea select number of underperforming stores,” the Atlanta-based sports bar chain said in a statement toNation’s Restaurant News.
June: Walgreens to close 'underperforming' stores
The national drug store chain Walgreens announced it will be closing "certain underperforming U.S. stores."
No list was provided, but USearch reports that of the 110 Walgreens locations that have closed this year for whatever reason, so far only one was in Florida, at 12041 Palm Beach Blvd. in Fort Myers.
Florida has more Walgreens than any other state, with 800 locations in 349 cities.
July: Conn's HomePlus closing some locations
Conn's HomePlus, a 134-year-old company based in Texas, expanded quickly last December when it acquired Florida-based W.S. Badco*ck, another home goods retailer that operates in the southeastern U.S. under the name"Badco*ck Home Furniture & More"The result was 550 stores across 15 states between the two brands.
In July, Conn's announced plans toclose at least 73 locations across 13 states with 18 of Florida's 21 locations getting shuttered. But Badco*ck had it worse.
July: Badco*ck Home Furniture & More closing all locations
Conn's HomePlus downsized, but its new acquisition is completely closing down.
by October, including about 80 in Florida where the chain started in Mulberry back in 1904.
July: Big Lots closing 26 stores in Florida
The big box discount retailer announced it was closing as many as 40 stores around the country — 11 in Florida alone — after its first quarter revenues were down by over 10% for a loss of about $114.5 billion.
At the end of the month, Big Lots said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that there could be up to 315 closed locations. A check of the Big Lots website found 26 Florida stores already running closing sales. Here's the list.
August: Buca di Beppo files for bankruptcy and closes restaurants
Orlando-based casual restaurant chain Buca di Beppo has been struggling in recent months, shutting down restaurants since the COVID pandemic and closing nearly 20% of its locations in July, according toRestaurant Business Magazine.
The nine locations in Florida have been whittled down to three, in Orlando, Celebration/Kissimmee, and Davie.
August: LL Flooring closing 94 stores in more than 30 states
LL Flooring, formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, announced it will be closing 94 stores in more than 30 states as it files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of nearly $110 million in long-term debt.
The Richmond, Virginia-based company will be closing five locations in Florida:
- Clearwater Showroom- 2613 Gulf to Bay Blvd.
- Florida City- 33550 S. Dixie Highway
- Gainsville- 2607 NW 13th St.
- St. Augustine- 330 CBL Dr.
- Tampa- 8444 W. Hillsborough Ave.
