Exclusive | Longtime 90s mall staple plans on closing 15 stores this year as the retail apocalypse rages on

Fossil Group is trimming its mall footprint yet again, closing seven stores in the first three months of 2026 and warning investors it will shutter as many as 15 locations by year’s end — leaving the watchmaker with roughly 185 stores worldwide.And it all comes as malls are no longer what they were.The Richardson, Texas company disclosed the closures during its first quarter earnings call, part of a downsizing effort that has already wiped out more than 100 stores since 2024. Fossil closed 54 locations in 2024 and another 49 in 2025, according to the company’s own figures. Chief financial officer Randy Greben told investors the pullback is intentional as the company works through a broader turnaround plan.The cuts land as Fossil posts a smaller loss than Wall Street expected, with a first quarter net loss of just $800,000, down sharply from $17.6 million a year earlier. Fossil is far from alone.Boutique chain Francesca’s liquidated its entire fleet of roughly 400 stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, its second trip through bankruptcy court in six years. Claire’s also filed for Chapter 11 last year before being bought by a private equity firm that halted its liquidation.

Even Saks Fifth Avenue emerged from its own bankruptcy with a smaller footprint intact.But brokers who track the sector say the closures are less a sign of the American mall dying and more a sign of who gets to stay.“This is not the old story of too many stores from the pre-e-commerce or COVID era,” Adelaide Polsinelli, vice chairman at Compass, told The Post. “What we are seeing now is a sorting.The strong centers pull further ahead, the weak ones empty out.

Class A malls run near full occupancy and only a few points below pre-pandemic traffic, while the bottom tier sits closer to 70% occupied and still sliding,” Polsinelli added.“The closures cluster in the weak locations.

This is a location problem and a relevance problem, not a blanket collapse.�...