The declines speed up with every closure announcement, especially by department store anchors and former mall mainstays like Gap Inc., which last year said 350 stores would close, mostly in malls. American Eagle Outfitters in January said it would close as many as 225 stores by 2023, and that newly signed leases would be for shorter terms. CEO Jay Schottenstein said at the company's Jan. 21 investors day that the retailer has developed a modular system that allows 80% of a store to be moved to another location rather than dismantled, giving the company more flexibility in where it runs its stores.