Another big cosmetics brand scares customers with closing reports

Some people are afraid of clowns.

Others are pretty scared of the dentist.

Related: Another giant cosmetics brand closing store unexpectedly

For some, heights or spiders might do the trick. 

If you're a devoted shopper, however, one of the scariest things you might hear is that your favorite store is closing down. 

Unfortunately for the latter cohort of people, this sensation is becoming a more frequent occurrence. 

Store closures are nothing new; as long as commerce has been around, people have been opening and closing up shop since what seems like the beginning of time. 

When economies are in growth mode, we just seem to get a lot more stores opening up than closing. 

But when the market takes a prolonged downturn, or when unforeseeable events take an industry by storm, vacancies seem to pop up like dandelions in the springtime. 

This has especially been the case over the past five years, where store closures have swept the country like one prolonged bout of spring fever. 

Except, rather than growing like weeds, an outsized number of store closures have shrunk the market and consolidated many shopping plazas, main streets, and malls into ghosts of what they once were. 

Now, instead of a lot of niche or specialty retailers that may have been around for decades, a lot of our shopping plazas have blended into just one or two big-box stores that offer the same variety under one roof.

Brick-and-mortar retailers struggle

But it's not all easy for the big-box stores. 

These corporations must still maintain a brick-and-mortar presence that presents customers with a lot of variety to compete with online retailers. 

That presents a unique challenge. Stocking a lot of inventory — and doing it cheaply — is no small task. 

More closings:

• Popular local Dairy Queen rival suddenly closing, no bankruptcy
• Another big Mexican chain closing down restaurant, no bankruptcy
• UPS suddenly closing more stores amid chaotic new change, layoffs
• Popular fast-food burger chain closes all restaurants in key area

If you're a large enough brick-and-mortar retailer, with, say, over 1,000 locations around the country, there are a lot of associated costs. 

These stores must keep inventory in stock on every shelf across the U.S., maintain an online operation, keep prices competitive, combat inventory shrink (or losses due to theft), and try to control high operational costs.

The challenge of keeping the business afloat — let alone profitable everywhere — is next to impossible.

Ulta Beauty report scares customers

This means every now and then, even the most robust businesses must close stores down. 

Such is the case with Ulta Beauty  (ULTA) , which disappointed fans when it announced it would shutter its South Loop Chicago location on June 14, 2025. 

The report came as a shock to many customers who depended on Ulta for their favorite cosmetics. 

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It's particularly surprising, since Ulta is headquartered close to Chicago and has just under 10 locations in and around the city. 

Its closure spurred subsequent online chatter that Ulta would be closing all locations, particularly as CEO Keecia Steelman told analysts in March that the "in-store presentation and guest experience today are not as strong as we would like."

Challenges aside, reports of mass closures are not true.

Ulta operates about 1,400 stores across the U.S., and the South Loop closure is an isolated one.

Other retailers have left South Loop's Roosevelt Collection Shops recently, including troubled retailer The Container Store.