There's no way to sugarcoat it: 2020 was a brutal year for restaurants and stores. The pandemic, massive amounts of debt and a shift in shopping as well as dining habits created a lethal cocktail of bankruptcies and closures.
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The 30 retailers and restaurant chains that filed for bankruptcy in 2020
Papyrus
The mall staple best known for selling stationery and upscale greeting cards went out of business, resulting in the closure of more than 250 stores across the U.S. and Canada. Papyrus made the announcement in January and blamed an overexpansion of stores, the downturn in brick-and-mortar shopping and its inability to recover fully from the 2008 financial crisis.
Pier 1 Imports
The home goods retailer filed for bankruptcy in February, following years of decline because of online competition and big-box chains. Pier 1, which once had more than 1,000 locations, ultimately closed all of its locations. In July, the brand name was purchased by an investment firm and will relaunch it as an online-only store.
Neiman Marcus
The 113-year-old upscale department store was hit especially hard by the nation working from home. After making its announcement in May, it emerged from bankruptcy in September with billions of dollars less in debt and five fewer stores, including its flashy Hudson Yards stores that opened in New York City in 2019.
Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes
COVID-19 was a brutal blow for all-you-can-eat buffets, especially for this restaurant chain. It announced the closure of all of its 97 U.S. restaurants and liquidated its assets.
Sur La Table
The 50-year-old purveyor of upscale kitchenware filed for bankruptcy, resulting in the closure of roughly half of its 120 U.S. stores. Sur La Table was sold for $90 million August to an investment firm.
Muji USA
The U.S. arm of the Japanese retailer entered bankruptcy and closed a "small number" of its locations. Muji is using the process to emerge with a renewed focus on online sales.
Lord & Taylor
The once-snazzy upscale retailer filed for bankruptcy just a year after it was bought for $75 million. Hopes of keeping some of its stores quickly collapsed with the brand announcing a month later it was shutting all of them down, ending a nearly 200-year run.
Century 21
Beloved by New Yorkers, the department store chain shuttered its 13 locations ending a 60-year-old run. The company blamed the lack of payment on its business interruption insurance as the cause of its demise.
