Business & Tech

MD Retail Apocalypse: Another Chain Closing All Stores

Another national chain said this week it plans to close every store, including its five MD shops, as retail sales continue to be dismal.

Another national chain said this week it plans to close every store, including 5 Maryland shops, as retail sales continue to struggle.
Another national chain said this week it plans to close every store, including 5 Maryland shops, as retail sales continue to struggle. (Shutterstock)

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The outlook for some retailers in Maryland continues to be gloomy: Another national chain this week announced plans to close its stores nationwide, according to reports.

Papyrus, a stationery retailer, is closing its stores across the country, according to Fortune. The chain operates five Maryland stores in Annapolis, Bethesda, Towson, Chevy Chase and Columbia.

The company, which once had 450 locations, is down to 260 stores, which have begun liquidation, reports indicate.

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Papyrus hadn't issued a formal statement announcing the closings, Fortune reported, but the website now states that all sales are final and no returns or guarantees will be honored. A 20 to 40 percent off storewide sale was also promoted on the Papyrus website.

The Maryland stores are at:

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  • Annapolis: 1730 Annapolis Mall
  • Montgomery Mall: 7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda
  • Chevy Chase Center: 5457 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase
  • The Mall in Columbia: 10300 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia
  • Towson Town Center: 825 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson

Papyrus joins other chains that are closing all or some of their Maryland stores, including A.C. Moore, Pier 1 Imports, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sears, Kmart, Motherhood Maternity, Dressbarn and more.

Earlier this month, Pier 1 said it would likely close half of its stores to "better align its business with the current operating environment."

Nine Maryland stores, including sites in Rockville, Gaithersburg, Baltimore and Gambrills, were removed from the chain's website. The company confirmed on social media the stores removed from the website were slated for closure. Patch has posted the full list of the nine Pier 1 stores expected to close.

The women's clothing store Avenue is closing more than 200 locations across the country, including all eight stores in Maryland. Read more.

The iconic Sears brand, along with Kmart, are both owned by the same company and it continued to close stores in 2019, shuttering two more in the state in 2019. The Cumberland Sears store at 1262 Vocke Road was on a closing list posted in November by USAToday. And Kmart locations in Frederick, Hagerstown and Hyattsville are on the closing list in Maryland, the newspaper reports. In September, the newspaper reported coming store closings would include: Gaithersburg Sears: 701 Russell Ave. and Stevensville Kmart: 200 Kent Manor Drive. Read more.

And embattled Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg saw the closure last fall of Lord & Taylor and JCPenney, according to the Washington Business Journal.

The news is a continuation of the recent climate for brick-and-mortar stores across America. A record 9,300-plus store closings were announced in 2019, and that number could be even higher in 2020, according to a report by Business Insider.

RELATED: Maryland Chain Retailers That Closed Stores In 2019


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