CLOTHING company Express has filed for bankruptcy and will close over 100 locations.
The bankruptcy will result in the sale of about 95 Express stores and all of its UpWest Express locations.
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The company also owns Bonobos but has not announced any plans to close its locations.
Express “expects to conduct business as usual” at the remaining stores, it said in a press release.
The company did not specify which stores would shut.
There are currently around 530 Express locations.
CLOSING TIME
While there has not yet been any official list of closing stores, one New Jersey location is already slated for closure.
The store, in Paramus Park Mall, recently posted signs for a liquidation sale.
Discounts there are currently up to 70% off.
It’s not fully clear whether this store is counted in the roughly 95 the chain plans to close.
Local shoppers won’t have to travel far, however.
There is another Express located at the Garden State Plaza mall, also in Paramus.
BANKRUPTCY BUCKS
The company is filing for bankruptcy despite a hefty influx of cash from the federal government.
Express said last week it received $49 million from the IRS through the CARES Act.
The act, passed by the Trump administration in 2020, pays out stimulus money to make up for losses associated with Covid-19.
Pending bankruptcy court approval, the company says it has found $35 million in new financing from some existing lenders.
Bankruptcy allows companies to more easily liquidate assets to pay off mounting debt.
An example of asset liquidation is the sale of a store.
How does bankruptcy work?
Bankruptcy is a specific legal process that helps companies eliminate debt they can’t repay.
The process allows businesses to start fresh and gain access to new credit.
Supervised by federal courts, bankruptcies allow a company to sell off its assets more easily to pay off creditors, according to Investopedia.
Chapter 11, a common process for companies, is used to restructure a business with the goal of remaining open – even if it means selling off most of the company’s properties.
Express is one of several companies facing high-profile bankruptcies.
Rite Aid recently shook up the drugstore market with its bankruptcy filing in October.
The company has now closed dozens of stores across the country as it prepares to exit bankruptcy.
Red Lobster restaurants are facing an uncertain future amid speculation that company may also file bankruptcy.
Jo-Ann, formerly Joann Fabrics, filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to save its more than 850 stores.
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