169-Year-Old US Store Set To Close 36 Stores: Here’s Why

Despite being around for 169 years, one store in the US is downsizing. The retailer Orvis is set to close at least 36 stores nationwide.

However, this isn’t necessarily a reason to worry. Orvis is shutting down locations as part of a major rebrand. It wants to return to its roots as a store for outdoor recreation and fishing. Think of it as a Bass Pro competitor with a lot more history.

So multiple stores will close, but for now, the Orvis brand will live on. The store dates all the way back to 1856, when the first store opened in Manchester, Virginia. The store was known for its catalog service, which it called the oldest in the country. However, the company got rid of the catalog last year. Now it’s also closing stores.

Store Is Closing Locations

It appears that the store needs the capital to survive in this economy. Orvis will close five outlets as well as 31 full-price stores. It’s returning to its outdoor roots, ditching its pivots into lifestyle clothing. So far, the company hasn’t revealed which stores will closed.

• “Like many in retail, Orvis’ business model faced a sizable shift with the introduction of an unprecedented tariff landscape,” company president Simon Perkins said. 

• “To ensure a durable brand and model for decades to come, we are focusing on our core strengths and making the difficult but necessary decision to rescale the business by tightening our assortment and reducing our corporate store footprint.”

Although they’re closing dozens of stores, the company has about 400 independent dealers to help pick up the slack. Some have applauded the move by the store.

• Speaking with the Daily Mail, retail expert Neil Saunders said: “The outdoor category has been challenged over the past couple of years as the market has slowed. That has been unhelpful to Orvis and means that the economics of running stores are not as good as they once were. Now tariffs have piled on further cost pressures.”
• “The company is now course correcting and taking out expensive shops and focusing more on the direct to consumer side via online. This does make sense as Orvis is something of a niche brand in a category that many people are happy to shop online for,” she said.