Payless Shoe Source has officially filed for bankruptcy protection and will be closing 400 stores in North America.
On April 4th, 2017, Payless’ North American entities filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Payless said it will continue to operate normally for customers and will be providing employee wages, healthcare coverage and other benefits without interruption.
They will also be honouring all gift cards with Payless stores and Payless.com.
The company has agreed to immediately close of nearly 400 underperforming locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and work to aggressively manage the remaining locations.
“This is a difficult, but necessary, decision driven by the continued challenges of the retail environment, which will only intensify,” said CEO Paul Jones. “We will build a stronger Payless for our customers, vendors and suppliers, associates, business partners and other stakeholders through this process.
“While we have had to make many tough choices, we appreciate the substantial support we have received from our lenders, who share our belief that we have a unique opportunity to enable Payless — the iconic American footwear retailer with one of the best-recognized global brands — to remain the go-to shoe store for customers in America and around the globe.”
Payless will be updating their website with a full list of store closures shortly.
