Stores are in retreat? Most close (7)
I believe the answer is:
nearest
'most close' is the definition.
('near' can be similar in meaning to 'close')
'stores are in retreat?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'are' is 'ear' which is present in the answer.
'retreat?' could be 'nest' (nest is a kind of retreat) and 'nest' is present in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nearest that I've seen before include "With dearest, they're our loved ones" , "Most approximate" , "Most adjacent" , "Sneer at (anag)" , "Next" .)