The fact that mall retailers are struggling is nothing new – retailers like Walmart and Amazon have been taking big bites out of specialty stores for years.

To start: Season 3 of Netflix's "Stranger Things" features a number of mall stores that no longer exist, including candle store Wicks 'N' Sticks (filed for bankruptcy in 2006) and teen retailer Chess King (which closed for good in 1995).

This once-trendy retailer for young women's clothes, founded in 1962 as Lorne's and renamed Wet Seal in 1990, struggled for much of the last decade. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015 after closing 338 stores. In 2017, the company closed its remaining 171 locations.

Wet Seal now operates an online-only business.

This store was created as a junior spinoff of the popular Limited brand. In the mid-2000s, all stores were either shuttered or eventually re-named under the Justice brand.

Once-iconic mall staple Sharper Image, seen here in a 2002 episode of "Will & Grace," filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2008 and closed all its locations. 

Along with Benetton sweatshirts, Esprit sportswear was a big get for 1980s teens. In February 2012, Esprit announced that it planned to close all retail stores in North America.

Known for its socially conscious ad campaigns and bright color palettes, this store brought out the Euro-fashionista in 1980s mall rats. The brand has since shuttered all of its U.S. locations, though it has an online store and a brick-and-mortar presence abroad. 

Here, Luciano Benetton poses in a store window at the height of the brand's U.S. popularity.

This trailblazing accessories store was once known for discovering designers before they made it big. Under the ownership of L Brands (the same parent company as Victoria's Secret), all physical locations were closed by January 2019.

Sam Goody was the place to be for music back in 1984, at least as evidenced by this Ray Parker, Jr. event promoting his single, "Ghostbusters."

Most stores became FYE locations after Sam Goody filed for bankruptcy in 2006, though curiously, two locations still exist: one in Medford, Oregon, and one in St. Clairsville, Ohio.

Toy retailer FAO Schwarz, under significant competitive pressure from Walmart and Target, began the process of shuttering its Zany Brainy stores in 2003.

KB Toys (or Kay Bee), then one of the largest U.S. toy retailers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2008. The company closed about 460 stores, many in malls.

Even with FAO Schwartz and KB Toys out of the picture, Toys 'R' Us (seen here circa 1990) just couldn't survive the changing retail landscape. The company declared bankruptcy in 2017 and shuttered its stores. 

Here, then-chairman and CEO of Microsoft Bill Gates signs copies of Windows 98 inside a CompUSA store in San Francisco.

Once America's most iconic shoe retailer, Florsheim's filed for bankruptcy in 2002. You can still buy shoes from the company, but it no longer offers mall stores.

Once powerful electronics retailer Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and again in 2017. Most Radio Shack locations have closed, though a small number of stores in rural locations remain open.

Home goods retailer Linens 'n Things, founded in 1975, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2008 and ultimately won permission to close its 371 remaining brick-and-mortar stores.

The Linens 'n Things website ceased operations in 2018.

Robinsons-May, seen here in December 2005, was acquired by Federated Department Stores that same year. Its locations have since been rebranded as Macy's.

This odd edu-tainment concept owned by Discovery Holdings closed its 103 mall stores in 2007.

Originally founded in 1949 as Wards Company, electronics retailer Circuit City went bankrupt in 2008, closed its retail locations in early 2009, and sold its brand name to Systemax.

The retailer's website ceased operations in 2012, ending the use of the Circuit City name, though there are plans to revive the brand as a store-within-a-store model.

Once a Los Angeles staple, Mervyn's filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and liquidated all its stores.

Borders bookstore didn't last much longer after this photo was taken in November 2010: The company filed for bankruptcy in February 2011.

After trying to keep its stores open, Borders made the decision to liquidate. The brand was purchased by Barnes & Noble for just $13.9 million.

Hecht's department stores, founded in Baltimore in 1857 and seen here in the 1950s, was rebranded as Macy's in September 2006.

Here, a shopper looks through the clearance section of Hecht's in 2006 during one of the store's going out of business sales. 

Trans World Entertainment rebranded most of its Coconuts Music & Movies locations into FYE stores in 2006. Just one Coconuts location remains: in Evansville, Indiana.

Here, actress Jennifer Love Hewitt poses for a picture during a 1998 promotional appearance at a Manhattan Coconuts Music & Movies.

This golfing retailer ended operations in 2016, when the brand was purchased by Dick's Sporting Goods at a bankruptcy auction.

Filene's Basement, once well-known in Boston for its yearly wedding dress sale, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2012. It since made a minor online-only comeback.

Once large movie-rental chain Hollywood Video filed for bankruptcy in 2010 (for the second time!) and shuttered all its 2,415 stores.

Once many peoples' go-to retailer for new reads – including this 1990 book by Donald Trump – Waldenbooks closed its doors in 2011, when its owner, Borders, went under.

This photo was taken in the final days of Waldenbooks' 2011 liquidation sale.

Once known as "The Florida Store," all Burdine's department store locations became Macy's in 2005.

Somebody finally beat The Wiz, the electronics store seen here in a 1998 photo. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1997. P.C. Richard & Son purchased the remnants of the company for $1.8 million in 2003.

Sporting goods retailer Sports Authority, seen here in a 2015 picture, filed for bankruptcy in March 2016. It announced in May 2016 that all remaining locations would close.

Founded in 1983 as a T-shirt business, this chain was eventually acquired by Forever 21 before its locations were finally shuttered in the mid-2000s.