Maternity departments were once a fixture of American department stores and are now largely a website. The retreat has more to do with inventory behavior than with demand disappearing.
The wearing window is measured in months
A maternity garment is useful for a portion of a single pregnancy, which limits how much any one customer will spend and how long she stays in the category.
That produces a customer base that turns over completely and continuously. No amount of loyalty work extends the relationship, because the need ends.
Retail models built on repeat purchase and brand attachment perform poorly against that pattern. The category resists the standard playbook.
The fit target moves throughout the period
A maternity range has to accommodate a body that changes substantially across the months it is worn. One garment must fit several different sets of measurements.
Designers solve this with panels, ruching, ties and heavy use of stretch, which are construction techniques rather than styling choices. They add cost and constrain the shapes available.
Because the solution is technical, ranges from different retailers converge visually. Differentiation is difficult when the engineering dictates the silhouette.
Stretch basics absorbed part of the demand
Everyday clothing has become far stretchier and looser than it was a generation ago. Oversized knits, elastic waistbands and wrap shapes work through much of a pregnancy.
Buyers now substitute from the regular assortment for a substantial share of what they need, buying maternity-specific items only where the fit genuinely requires it.
Denim is the clearest exception, since a fitted waistband cannot be substituted. Maternity jeans remain a strong seller where full ranges have vanished.
Rental and resale suit the category unusually well
Short wearing periods produce garments in good condition with plenty of life left. That is exactly the input a resale market needs.
Secondhand maternity moves quickly through consignment shops, community groups and online marketplaces. The supply and demand are naturally matched.
Rental services address the same problem from the other direction, particularly for occasion wear worn once. Both routes compete directly with buying new.
What replaced the department
Most volume now sits with online specialists carrying deep ranges, plus a compact section within larger chains focused on the items that cannot be substituted.
That is a rational response to a category with short duration, high fit complexity and strong secondhand supply. The shelf space went where sales per foot were higher.
What was lost with the department is the ability to try garments on, which is the part of the process the substitution strategy handles worst.