22 companies defying the retail meltdown by opening hundreds of new stores

Business Insider/Hayley Peterson

Dollar General is opening 1,000 new stores this year.

Retailers are closing thousands of stores in one of the biggest waves of closures in years.

But it’s not all doom and gloom in the retail industry: several companies are rapidly expanding, with at least one — Dollar General — adding as many as 1,000 new stores this year.

The retail consulting firm IHL Consulting Group compiled a list of 22 retailers bucking the retail apocalypse by growing their store counts.

The list, which includes plans for nearly 3,000 new stores this year, is dominated by discount stores and grocery chains, including Dollar Tree, TJ Maxx, Ross Stores, Hobby Lobby, Lidl, Aldi, and Costco.

Here’s the full list:

IHL Consulting Group

US shoppers started gravitating toward discount stores during the recession, and most never returned to shopping full price.

This shift coincided with a seismic change in how Americans spend their money. Shoppers are now devoting a smaller share of their wallets to clothing and accessories, and instead spending more on big-ticket items like cars and travel, as well as food, technology, and health care.

Shoppers are also purchasing more online. At the same time, mall visits have dropped precipitously.

These changes have devastated full-price department stores like Macy’s, JCPenney, and Sears, which are among the many retailers closing hundreds of stores this year.

Morgan Stanley Research

Department stores are losing ground to Amazon and discount retailers.

More than 3,200 store closures have been announced so far this year, and Credit Suisse analysts expect that number to increase to more than 8,600 before the end of the year. For comparison, 6,163 stores shut down in 2008, the worst year for closures on record.

But many discount stores and auto retailers may emerge victorious from the massive upheaval in the retail industry, as the chart from IHL Consulting shows.