Posts mislead about mass store closures under Biden (2024)

Some social media users are claiming that a number of businesses have reported hundreds of store closures under Joe Biden’s presidency.

An April 19 Facebook post shared a photo of eight retail, fast food, entertainment and grocery stores with their purported number of closures: "Dollar Tree: 1,000 stores closing. Walgreens: 900 stores closing. Macy’s: 150 stores closing. Foot Locker: 400 stores closing. Gap: 350 stores closing. Burger King: 400 stores closing. Regal Cinemas: 429 locations closing. Kroger: 413 stores closing."

Text on the photo read, "Is this building back better?" referring to Biden’s 2020 campaign slogan and presidential agenda, Build Back Better. The post also criticized "Bidenomics."

(Screengrab from Facebook)

This post and others like it were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

Some of these figures lack context; others are incorrect. Here’s a breakdown of how many of these eight businesses’ stores have closed during Biden’s presidency. These closures are largely because of lower sales or business rebrands; none cited Biden’s policies as the reason for the closures.

"Dollar Tree: 1,000 stores closing"

This is largely accurate. Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar in 2015 for $8 billion, and plans to close hundreds of Family Dollar stores.

In March, Dollar Tree said it plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores across the U.S. in this year’s first half, The Associated Press reported. Over the next several years, Dollar Tree plans to close another 370 Family Dollar stores and 30 Dollar Tree locations.

"Walgreens: 900 stores closing"

This is inaccurate. This number refers to the number of recent store closings for CVS, not Walgreens.

Walgreens said in June 2023 that it plans to close 150 U.S. locations by August 2024, CNN reported. In 2019, when Donald Trump was president, Walgreens said it was closing 200 stores in the U.S.

CVS said in November 2021 that it planned to close 900 stores by 2024.

Shoppers enter a Macy's department store in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York, Dec. 12, 2023. (AP)

"Macy’s: 150 stores closing"

This number is correct, but needs context.

Macy’s Inc. said in February that it planned to close 150 "underproductive" stores in the U.S. through 2026. Fifty of these stores will close by Dec. 31.

In February 2020, when Trump was in office, Macy’s announced 125 store closings, the AP reported.

"Foot Locker: 400 stores closing"

This is missing context. Foot Locker said in March 2023 that it plans to close 400 stores in "underperforming" malls across North America by 2026, CBS News reported. However, the company also said it will open about 300 free-standing locations focused on its "Community," "Power" and "House of Play" store concepts.

The company said these decisions are part of its "Lace Up" strategic plan to "reset" its business and increase revenue to $9.5 billion by 2026.

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"Gap: 350 stores closing"

This number is accurate, but the closures weren’t announced on Biden’s watch.

Gap said in October 2020, when Trump was president, that it would close 350 stores, including 220 of its namesake Gap stores and 130 Banana Republic stores, in North America (not just the U.S.) by 2024, CBS News reported.

Gap’s website lists all of the completed store closures since 2020; it says 189 Gap stores and 134 Banana Republic stores have closed.

A "Home of the Whopper" sign welcomes customers outside the Burger King fast food restaurant, on Feb. 1, 2021, in Epping, N.H. (AP)

"Burger King: 400 stores closing"

This figure is largely accurate. Joshua Kobza, CEO of Restaurant Brands International Inc., which owns Burger King, said in May 2023 that the company planned to close 300 to 400 U.S. locations by the end of 2023.

Kobza said the company typically closes "a couple (of) hundred" Burger King locations each year, Restaurant Dive reported.

When contacted by PolitiFact, a Burger King spokesperson provided no details about the chain’s exact number of closures in 2023.

"Regal Cinemas: 429 stores closing"

We found no reports that this many Regal Cinemas movie theaters were closing.

Cineworld, the company that owns Regal Cinemas, said in January 2023 that it was planning to reject leases for 39 U.S. movie theaters. This announcement came a few months after Cineworld filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, CNN reported. (Chapter 11 bankruptcy lets companies keep operating as they reorganize their assets and debts.)

In September 2022, Regal Cinemas closed 12 locations.

It’s unclear how many Regal Cinemas locations closed after January 2023. We contacted Regal Cinemas, but received no response. The company’s website says it has 426 theaters in the U.S.

"Kroger: 413 stores closing"

This is wrong. Kroger has not announced store closures.

To clear a path for a merger, announced in 2022, grocery store chains Kroger and Albertsons said in 2023 they were selling 413 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers for $1.9 billion, the AP reported.

But the federal government sued to block the merger in February, saying the merger would lead to a less competitive market and higher prices for consumers. On April 22, Kroger and Albertsons said they would sell an additional 166 stores to appease the government’s concerns, the AP reported.

Erin Rolfes, a Kroger spokesperson, told PolitiFact that Kroger will not close any stores as a result of the merger.

"Stores divested to C&S are not stores that will be closed — they are stores that will be run in the same manner they are today, just by C&S instead of Kroger or Albertsons," Rolfes said.

Our ruling

A Facebook post claimed there have been mass closures across several businesses during Biden’s presidency.

Some information in the post lacked context, including that some closing announcements preceded Biden’s presidency and that some businesses were opening new stores. The post also shared inaccurate information about the number of stores closing for three businesses.

Although some information in the post is accurate, the claim omits important details. We rate this claim Half True.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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  Facebook posts

  stated on April 19, 2024 in a Facebook post:

  Dollar Tree, Walgreens, Macy’s, Foot Locker, Gap, Burger King, Regal Cinemas and Kroger have had mass store closures during Joe Biden’s presidency.

  

  

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