Most of the store closures are expected to happen in the second half of the year, company officials said.
WASHINGTON — Plus-sized clothing retailer Torrid plans to shutter nearly 30% of its physical locations, just under 200 brick and mortar stores, as the company seeks to downsize amid fewer physical sales and higher risks from tariffs.
The plan to close down 180 physical stores was disclosed last week in its earnings report.
“We’re accelerating our transformation to a more digitally-led business, which includes optimizing our retail footprint,” Torrid CEO Lisa Harper said on the call with investors. “We now plan to close up to 180 underperforming stores this year, allowing us to reduce fixed costs and reinvest in areas that drive long-term growth, including customer acquisition and omnichannel enhancements.”
Despite sales in the first quarter of 2025 meeting the expectations of analysts, Harper said the bulk of the company’s sales were being made online.
“Digital continues to be our customer’s preferred channel, now approaching 70% of total demand,” Harper told investors. “As part of our digital transformation long term, we see the business model evolving to an approximate demand mix of 75% online and 25% in-store.”
Harper said the company initially only planned to close around 40 to 50 stores in 2025, but recent trends in consumer spending have caused the company to reconsider and develop plans to accelerate closure plans. Most of the store closures would happen in the second half of 2025, she said.
The company is also shifting its manufacturing footprint away from China as President Donald Trump’s trade war with the U.S.’s largest economic rival looms over the economy.
“Our team has worked to reduce our exposure to China by diversifying into other countries, and cultivating strong relationships with a broad range of vendor partners who in many cases have developed manufacturing capabilities in multiple countries,” Harper said.
As part of that reduction, Torrid is putting a hold on selling shoes, noting that many of the manufacturers for footwear are in China and are subject to Trump’s tariffs.
“We are pausing right now our shoe business until further notice. So the majority of that business is currently sourced from China and that business tends to be lower margin,” said Paula Dempsey, Torrid’s Chief Financial Officer. “So at this point, we’re pausing it and … reevaluating other partners to support the reentry into that business at a higher, more profitable margin.”
Torrid store closures
In total, the company will continue to maintain around 450 physical locations, and executives say the closures won’t remove stores from many existing markets. A list of stores that will be closing hasn’t been made available yet.
“We’re not giving up on stores at all,” Harper said. “We are rightsizing the portfolio.”