The past few years have been rough for a declining brick-and-mortar retail industry.

The retail apocalypse continues to hit stores hard as many businesses have struggled since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s a look at notable businesses that announced closings or shuttered stores permanently in March, both in New Jersey and nationwide.

Alleva Dairy

Alleva Dairy, the oldest cheese shop in New York City, closed March 1 after 130 years of business in Little Italy.

The iconic shop had been located at 188 Grand St., on the corner of Mulberry and Grand streets, since 1892.

Owner Karen King is planning to reopen the store in New Jersey, according to reports, at 9 Polito Ave. in Lyndhurst.

BurgerFi

The expanding burger chain closed its Cherry Hill location in early March, just six months after it opened.

BurgerFi has 110 locations nationwide. The chain’s lone remaining New Jersey spot opened at Newark Liberty International Airport in January.

Party City

Party City recently announced plans to shutter 22 locations across the country, including its store in Woodland Park.

An exact closing date has yet to be determined for the store located at 1756 Route 46.

There are currently 27 Party City locations in New Jersey and over 800 locations nationwide.

Sabato’s Prime Meats

Sabatos Prime Meats, located at 113 Leonardville Rd. in the Belford section of Middletown, closed for good March 18.

The popular butcher shop operated for 105 years, with 62 of those in Belford.

A social media post announcing the news garnered thousands of reactions, likes and shares from patrons expressing how much they would miss the butcher shop.

Becker Hardware

Longstanding New Jersey hardware store Becker Hardware took to Facebook to announce a plan to close after more than a century in business.

The store, located at 430 Route 34 in Colts Neck, is expected to close in late April although an exact date has yet to be announced.

The family-owned-and-operated hardware store had been in business for 120 years, spending its last 52 years in Colts Neck.

Walmart

Walmart closed its two last remaining stores in the Portland, Oregon area on March 24.

They were not meeting financial expectations, according to a company spokesperson. However, these closures came after Walmart CEO Doug McMillion said that record-breaking retail theft hurt the company’s economic performance last year.

Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel also decided to close its last remaining locations near the Portland area

The restaurant shuttered spots in Beaverton and Tualatin on March 20. A third location in Bend — about a 3.5-hour drive from Portland — also closed.

Foot Locker

Foot Locker said in March it plans to close as many as 420 stores by 2026.

The closures would reduce Foot Locker’s national footprint by more than 30% — cutting into its current total of more about 1,300 stores.

Stores set to close will be locations in shopping malls, although Foot Locker has not yet released a list of planned closures and closing dates.

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Christopher Burch can be reached at cburch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisBurch856. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tip