Stage Stores is a department store company specializing in retailing off-price brand name apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and housewares throughout the United States.
The retailer has surrendered in front of the coronavirus pandemic as it heads towards bankruptcy. Owing to the nationwide lockdown, the company shut all of its 738 stores and three distribution centers.
The COVID-19 induced casualties are on a rise, after the collapse of luxury store chain Neiman Marcus and apparel retailer J. Crew Group Inc; Stage Store filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Aldo, the accessories and footwear giant, also announced its filing for Chapter 15 bankruptcy.
The discount department store operator will seek bids for the business or any of its assets, while it also begins to wind down its operations, Stage Stores said in a statement. The company listed both assets and liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion, according to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
“The increasingly challenging market environment was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which required us to temporarily close all of our stores and furlough the vast majority of our associates,” Chief Executive Officer Michael Glazer said in a statement.
“Given the conditions, we have been unable to obtain necessary financing and have no choice but to take these actions.”
According to a report, the Texas-based retailer was striving to avoid bankruptcy by borrowing time for the making repayments, however, it could not succeed. The company is planning to re-open 557 stores on May 15 in the first phase and the next 67 in the second phase of reopening.
