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 After 123 years in business, Henri Bendel will be closing its doors in Jan. 2019. 
 
 Bendel’s parent company L Brands, which acquired the department store in 1985, announced the news Thursday due to the retailer’s declining sales. 
 
 In addition to shutting down its e-commerce business, L Brands plans to shut down all 23 of Bendel’s brick-and-mortar stores, including the iconic N.Y.C. Fifth Avenue flagship down the street from Bergdorf Goodman and Tiffany & Co. 
 
 “We are committed to improving performance in the business and increasing shareholder value. As part of that effort, we have decided to stop operating Bendel to improve company profitability and focus on our larger brands that have greater growth potential,” Leslie Wexner, chairman and chief executive officer of L Brands, said in a statement to PEOPLE. 
 
 “This decision is right for the future growth of our company, but not easy because of the impact to our L Brands family. I want to thank our Bendel associates for their dedication to this iconic brand and to our loyal Bendel customers.” 
 
 A representative for the brand “does not know what will happen” with the Fifth Avenue store space, but noted the location will continue to operate through mid-January 2019 and receive new merchandise for the holidays. 
 
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 Bendel was an early pioneer in the American fashion industry as the first luxury retailer to open an “upper Fifth Avenue address” and the first to stage a fashion show, according to its website. 
 
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 In 1913, Bendel introduced Coco Chanel’s designs to the U.S. and even employed Andy Warhol as its in-house illustrator in the 1960s. 
 
 The store was founded by French-speaking American designer Henri Willis Bendel in 1895 as a millinery shop in Greenwich Village before relocating to the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street in 1912. ||||| Henri Bendel is going out of business. 
 
 Parent company L Brands announced Thursday it's closing Bendel's website and all of its 23 stores, including the store's iconic Fifth Avenue location in New York, in January 2019 because of sluggish sales. 
 
 L Brands (LB) said in a statement that it's closing Bendel "to improve company profitability and focus on our larger brands that have greater growth potential," which includes Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works. 
 
 Bendel makes up a small portion of L Brands' sales. Last year, the company reported revenue of $12.6 billion. The company said Bendel's 2018 sales were approximately $85 million, adding that it's in the process of estimating closing costs. 
 
 The upscale brand, best known for its designer purses and shoes, was founded in 1895 by Henri Bendel. In 1913, the brand became one of the first luxury retailers to open a flagship store with an "upper FIfth Avenue address," according to its website. L Brands acquired Bendel in 1985 and led its expansion into 11 states. 
 
 L Brands is having a difficult 2018 because of increased retail competition. 
 
 The stock is down 55% for the year, making it one of worst performing companies in the S&P 500 for the year. ||||| Gap employee Shinju Nozawa-Auclair fixes a display of jeans at a Gap store on Feb. 20, 2014, in San Francisco. (Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images) 
 
 Gap announced Monday it will close a quarter of its stores and cut 250 corporate jobs as it tries to chart the clothing brand back toward growth. 
 
 The company will close 175 stores across North America, not including outlets or factory stores, based on store performance. There will be additional store closures at European locations. About 140 stores will close this year. Gap will continue to operate about 500 Gap stores, plus 300 outlet stores. 
 
 Gap has been struggling to entice customers amid competition from fast fashion brands. Same-store sales fell 10% in the first quarter, compared with a 5% drop in the year-ago quarter. 
 
 "We're focused on offering consistent, on-brand product collections and enhancing the customer experience across all of our channels, including a smaller, more vibrant fleet of stores," said Jeff Kirwan, global president for Gap, in a statement. 
 
 The store closures are part of a larger trend by mall-based brands to reduce store locations, says Simeon Siegel, retail equity analyst at Nomura. Macy's, J.C. Penney, Deb Shops, RadioShack, Sears and Wet Seal are all among brands that have or are planning to close stores. 
 
 "It's more a continuation of what's already been going on," Siegel says. "Your biggest competitor used to be your neighbor in the mall. Right now your biggest competitor is the infinite number of random start-up websites. You just don't need as many bricks and mortar locations." 
 
 Gap declined to say how many employees will be affected by the store closures. Spokesman Sean Piazza says the company is still defining which locations will close. Piazza also declined to say how many people work at the company's corporate offices, where 250 jobs will be cut, primarily in New York and San Francisco. 
 
 The corporate cuts are about increasing productivity and efficiency in decision making, Piazza says. 
 
 "This came out of an evaluation of the business," he says. "It allows the brand to focus on key store locations, drive productivity and also speed within our headquarters locations." 
 
 Gap expects to lose about $300 million in sales due to the store closures and incur one-time costs of $140 million to $160 million on things like lease buyouts and writing off inventory. 
 
 Gap stores have experienced slumping sales in the past year as fashions have failed to drive traffic. Creative director Rebekka Bay was let go in January, and the company eliminated her position, instead relying on a senior design team. 
 
 "Right now they're basically like a ship without a captain," says Jessica Bornn, a senior analyst with retail research firm Merchant Forecast. "There's no major creative design force behind the collection. They haven't interpreted any of the trends of the season." 
 
 Bornn views the store closures as a positive for the brand, which she says has too many locations in underperforming malls. 
 
 "The number of stores a retailer should have today as a mature chain has changed," she says. "Maybe by increasing the scarcity, that can start to improve and drive traffic to the stores." 
 
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– Shop on Fifth Avenue? Neither do we, but still: The iconic Henri Bendel department store will soon be gone along with its e-commerce business and 22 other brick-and-mortar locations, People reports. Parent company L Brands is making the move amid increasing retail competition and plummeting company stocks, which fell 55% this year, per CNN Money. A pioneer in US fashion and luxury retail, Bendel has been in business for 123 years and held the country's first fashion show, its website says. The store plans to close in January.