The Largest Department Stores in the US – Location Analysis

American department stores, once all-powerful shopping destinations that anchored malls across the country, have been dealt blow after blow in the past decade. The largest department stores in the US have been closing stores and cutting corporate staff, with the industry in a structural decline as businesses are not getting better.

We took a look at the locations of the largest department chains in the US – Kohl’s, JCPenney, Sears, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Kmart, and Neiman Marcus.

How many Department stores are there in the US

We analyzed a total of 4,138 stores from eight of the biggest corporate department stores in the US.

Kohl’s is the largest department store chain with 1,162 stores across 49 states. JCPenney has the second-largest state-wide presence with 840 stores spread across 49 states. Sears has 742 stores and is the only department store that is currently present in all 50 states.

Department store chains account for about 25% of the total mall square footage in the United States, with 12 percent of that coming from Macy’s and JCPenney. 

Department Stores with Most Locations Per State

The map above shows the reigning department store in each state. Kohl’s dominates in 28 states, most of which are on the east coast and in midwestern regions. JCPenney outnumbers in 13 states. Sears has higher stores in 8 states of which 4 are in the northwestern regions. Dillard’s and Macy’s have a higher store count than other department chains in only one state each.

The brick-and-mortar retail industry has had a rough few years, and now the coronavirus pandemic is causing even more turmoil. Many major retailers have announced permanent store closings or filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While the brick-and-mortar industry has struggled in 2020, there have been huge spikes in online shopping and dollar stores.

Kohl’s Locations US

There are 1,162 Kohl’s stores in the US. California (117), Texas (84), Illinois (66) are the states with the most number of Kohl’s stores. 

Kohl’s made a brilliant move in 2019 by making a deal with Amazon to accept their returns at all Kohl’s stores. The service Amazon Returns, allows customers to visit their local Kohl’s store to return eligible Amazon items, without a box or label, for a free return. Kohl’s will package and sends returned items to Amazon Returns centers on behalf of customers. Amazon Returns is now available at our more than 1,073 Khol’s stores nationwide.

JCPenney Locations US

There are 840 JCPenney stores in the US. Texas (82), California (71), Florida (52) are the states with the most number of JCPenney stores. 81% of stores provide curbside pickup facility.

Sears Locations US

There are 741 Sears stores in the US. Texas (81), California (79), and Florida (41) are the states with the most number of Sears stores. 66% of Sears stores provide curbside pickup facility. 

The struggling company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018 and has experienced many store closures since then.

Macy’s Locations US

There are 546 Macy’s stores in the US. California (97), Florida (45), and Texas (38) are the states with the most number of Macy’s stores. 57% of stores provide curbside pickup facility.

Nordstrom Locations US

There are 348 Nordstrom stores in the US. California (82), Texas (26), and Florida (22) are the states with the most number of Nordstrom stores with 23% of stores providing curbside pickup facility.

Dillard’s Locations US

There are 282 Dillard’s stores in the US. Texas (57), Florida (42), and Arizona (16) are the states with the most number of Dillard’s stores. 55% of Dillard’s stores provide curbside pickup facility.

Kmart Locations US

There are 176 Kmart stores in the US. California (21), Pennsylvania (16) and New York (15) are the states with the most number of Kmart stores. 71% of Kmart stores provide curbside pickup facility.

Neiman Marcus Locations US

There are 43 Neiman Marcus stores in the US. California, Texas, and Florida have 7 stores each. The Dallas-based department store has been closing stores over the past few years and has furloughed a large portion of its employees. The department store is several weeks away from potential bankruptcy.

States with Highest Number of Department Stores

The chart below shows the top five states with the most number of department stores.

California has the most department stores with 477 stores, followed by Texas (376) and Florida (267). California is also the top state for major retailers like Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, and JCPenney.

Impact of Department Store Closures on the Retail Market

At a time when retailers should be putting in orders for the all-important holiday shopping season, stores are furloughing tens of thousands of corporate and store employees, hoarding cash, and desperately planning how to survive this crisis. The retail industry’s decline has been steady and progressive, but the current coronavirus pandemic has accelerated its potential near demise in ways that few could have expected this quickly. Large scale department closures of much of the country’s retail sector would have a huge impact all across the economy.

The Scrapehero Data Store tracks store closures and openings, that focuses on retail, grocery, fast food, finance, and healthcare. You can subscribe to our store data plans and get datasets with data points such as store openings, store closures, parking availability, in-store pickup option, services, subsidiaries, nearest competitor stores, and much more.