Across Reddit threads and TikTok videos, the reaction to Torrid closing 180 stores is raw and personal. “It’s the only place I can actually try things on,” one user wrote. Others called it heartbreaking, a gut punch, even infuriating.
While headlines blamed the shift on e-commerce, the reality feels more targeted. These aren’t just store closures, they’re the erasure of spaces designed for plus-size women. That’s a major blow when 67% of U.S. women wear a size 14 or above.
The industry says online shopping is enough, but for many, digital-only feels like forced exile. And it raises a bigger, more urgent question: what happens when an entire demographic is pushed offline?
Physical Stores Are Disappearing for Plus-Size Shoppers
Plus-size shoppers aren’t just losing retail options, they’re losing their only options. Torrid’s store cuts follow a worrying trend: Lane Bryant shut 157 stores in 2020, Catherine’s closed all 320, and Avenue disappeared from malls altogether. These losses have created what experts call “plus-size retail deserts,” where shoppers have nowhere to go in person.
Unlike straight-size consumers who can walk into most stores, many plus-size buyers are left with only one choice: online or nothing. That’s more than an inconvenience, it’s isolation. And it reflects a deeper issue: physical stores are vanishing right when they’re most needed.
A $300 Billion Market That Can’t Find a Store
It’s one of retail’s strangest contradictions: the plus-size market is booming, but the stores are vanishing. In 2024, the global plus-size women’s clothing market hit $306.66 billion and is expected to grow past $530 billion by 2034.
Despite this, physical space for plus-size fashion keeps shrinking. Why? Because the fashion industry still treats thinness as brand value. Many labels avoid inclusive sizing in stores to maintain an image of exclusivity. This isn’t about sales, it’s about signaling. And it leaves millions of shoppers stuck between rising demand and disappearing access, with no clear fix in sight.
Online Shopping Doesn’t Work for Everyone
Torrid claims its customers prefer shopping online, but that’s a misread. Most plus-size shoppers aren’t choosing digital, they’re stuck with it. Poor sizing consistency, lack of fit feedback, and no way to feel fabrics make online shopping stressful and often demoralizing. Many plus-size buyers can’t rely on reviews or photos that reflect their bodies. The result? Constant returns and missed moments.
As one viral TikTok put it, it’s impossible to grab a last-minute outfit when no local store carries your size. What looks like digital convenience is often digital confinement. And it’s taking an emotional toll.
When Shopping Feels Like Shame
For many, losing access to plus-size stores isn’t just frustrating, it’s painful. Studies show inclusive fashion visibility can boost mental health, self-esteem, and motivation. When those spaces vanish, the message is loud: your body isn’t welcome here. It’s especially damaging for people already navigating body image issues, privacy concerns, or social anxiety.
Shopping in person can be affirming when done right, but when stores close, that source of affirmation disappears. And the mental health effects don’t stop at the fitting room. They ripple into confidence, movement, and self-worth. We’re not just losing clothing racks. We’re losing validation.
If You Don’t Live in a Big City, Good Luck
The impact of Torrid’s closures isn’t evenly spread. Shoppers in small towns and rural areas will be hit hardest, where alternative plus-size retailers are already few and far between. These areas often lack fast, affordable shipping and stable internet access, making digital shopping even more frustrating.
For some, returning clothes means hours of travel or extra costs they can’t afford. Meanwhile, urban centers may keep a few store options, creating a retail divide by geography. Your zip code now decides whether you can try on a dress or not. And the gap is only getting wider.
The Collateral Damage Nobody Discusses
Store closures don’t just remove places to shop, they remove people and knowledge. Plus-size retail workers often bring lived experience and empathy into the job, helping shoppers feel seen and supported. When stores disappear, so do those staff roles.
The loss also affects consumers’ confidence during high-stakes moments like interviews or weddings, when “nothing to wear” can become a real obstacle. Many plus-size consumers already pay more for less selection.
Now they face fewer fitting options, weaker service, and rising frustration. And the broader economy loses valuable expertise just when inclusive retail needs it most.
Marketing Says One Thing, Stores Do Another
It’s a strange moment in fashion: brands post inclusive campaigns online while quietly closing the doors that serve plus-size customers. The body positivity movement has gained mainstream approval, and major companies now feature diverse models in ads.
But that visibility isn’t backed by action in retail. Physical store investments in plus-size fashion are shrinking, not growing. The result is a performative kind of inclusion, loud on social media, silent on the sales floor. And it raises a difficult truth: if inclusion only exists online, can it truly be called inclusion at all?
A Future Without Plus-Size Stores Is Already Taking Shape
If trends hold, plus-size fashion may soon live entirely online. That future assumes access to fast shipping, flexible budgets, and tech-savvy consumers, but many don’t fit that mold. When shopping becomes a screen-only experience, spontaneity and ease disappear. That shift also strips away a key social experience: browsing, discovering, and simply being visible in public retail spaces.
As physical stores fade, plus-size shoppers are left with limited tools to navigate an already challenging fashion landscape. This isn’t just about clothes. It’s about presence. And for millions, that presence is quietly vanishing.
When Stores Close, Whose Needs Still Count?
Torrid’s store closures reflect more than economic strategy, they reveal who retail still considers worth serving. As physical plus-size spaces vanish, they take with them more than racks and registers. They take away recognition, dignity, and choice. The projected half-trillion-dollar value of the plus-size market shows there’s demand.
What’s missing is commitment. This isn’t just about how we shop. It’s about who gets to show up in public spaces, feel confident in their clothes, and be seen without apology. What we do next, what brands do next, will decide whether inclusive fashion exists in practice, or just in press releases.
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