The State of Physical Retail in the US (2022–2025): Big-Box and Grocery Chains

Despite the rise of e-commerce, physical retail in the U.S. is proving far more resilient than many expected — especially in the big-box and grocery sectors. Over the past three years, retailers like Walmart, Target, Costco, and Aldi have not only maintained but strategically expanded their physical footprints. While 2022 and 2023 saw more store openings than closures, 2024 brought a wave of store closings driven mostly by bankruptcies and weak specialty chains — not the major players in grocery or big-box retail.