Mall favorite Fossil is closing stores across the country

If your favorite watch is Fossil brand, you may want to grab one at your local mall while you can. The company has announced it will close several of its mall-based stores in response to "retail splitting" taking place countrywide.

Medium and small-sized malls are suffering

Nobody can deny that the whole mall experience has changed. It's no longer the hot spot with crowds being relatively thin the majority of the time.

That doesn't mean people have stopped shopping, though. Instead, data shows a huge gap between large and small malls. Retail splitting has customers choosing the bigger malls with more stores and more variety.

According to a report by Cushman & Wakefield, the bigger the mall, the better it's doing in terms of occupancy and traffic.

Fossil is simply reacting to the data

Fossil isn't immune to these trends and is reacting to the reality. It announced the closure of seven stores in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

The company explains these closures are part of a "multiyear turnaround" project. This will include closing some outlet locations and underperforming mall-based storefronts.

In 2024, Fossil also made a big move to exit the smartwatch industry. It was competing with giants like the Samsung Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch.

But it's not all bad news. It looks like messaging from Fossil CEO Franco Fogliato indicates the worst may be behind the company now.

Other big brands are also closing locations

Fossil isn't the only brand taking this approach. Even mall legacy retailers like JCPenney, Forever 21, and Macy's have been going through their own versions of downsizing.

While not legacy mall retailers, other big stores like Madewell, Tommy Bahama, and Banana Republic have also been closing locations.

Malls are still serving a purpose

With so many closures taking place in malls across the country, the silver lining seems to be that malls still serve a purpose. The retail splitting is simply picking winners and losers.

Source: TheStreet, Cushman & Wakefield, Rolling Out