Payless ShoeSource Canada Inc. says it is closing all 2,500 of its North American stores this spring. The company will soon file for creditor protection in Canada
The Kansas-based company’s chief restructuring officer Stephen Marotta said in a release: “The challenges facing retailers today are well documented, and unfortunately Payless emerged from its prior reorganization ill-equipped to survive in today’s retail environment. The prior proceedings left the Company with too much remaining debt, too large a store footprint and a yet-to-be realized systems and corporate overhead structure consolidation. As a consequence, despite our substantial efforts, we were ultimately unable to operate the North American retail and e-commerce operations on a sustainable basis.”
Documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court show the company had an oversupply of inventory as recently as this winter and was forced to sell merchandise at steep markdowns.
The company, which has also filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., says it will begin closing stores at the end of March, though some will be open until the end of May while it conducts liquidation sales.
Local Payless ShoeSources:
In the Niagara Region, five stores will be affected by this shutdown including: The Fairview Mall in St. Catharines, The Pen Centre in St. Catharines, The SmartCentre on Vansickle Road in St. Catharines, The SmartCentre on Oakwood Drive in Niagara Falls and The Seaway Mall in Welland location.
Following the Trend of the Retail Apocalypse
Known by the term “the retail apocalypse”, the closing of a large number of North American brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially those of large chains, starting in 2010 and continues onward.
Recently in Canada some other well known retail that has closed either completely or significantly reduced the number of stores:
Toys”R”Us
Sears
Nine West
Town Shoes
Jean Machine
Ann Taylor, LOFT, and Justice
Bombay Company and Bowring Brothers
Rockport
Gap
Lowe’s
J Crew
Crabtree & Evelyn
Bottom Line: Experts say although e-commerce is a big change in the retail landscape, our demands as consumers has changed as well and this is a trend that will likely affect retail in the future as well.
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