Fashion retailer Express files for bankruptcy with more than 100 stores set to close, but says it is still ‘business as usual’

The company CLOTHING Express has filed for bankruptcy and will close more than 100 locations.

The bankruptcy will result in the sale of approximately 95 Express stores and all of its UpWest Express locations.

The company also owns Bonobos, but has not announced plans to close its locations.

Express “expects to conduct business as usual” at the remaining locations, it said in a Press release.

The company did not specify which stores would be closed.

There are currently approximately 530 Express locations.

CLOSING TIME

While there has been no official list of store closures yet, one location in New Jersey is already slated to close.

The store, in the Paramus Park Mall, recently posted sale signs.

Discounts are currently up to 70%.

It’s not entirely clear whether this store is among the roughly 95 the chain plans to close.

Local shoppers won’t have to travel far, however.

There is another Express located in the Garden State Plaza shopping center, also in Paramus.

BANKRUPTCY MONEY

The company is filing for bankruptcy despite a large influx of money from the federal government.

Express said last week it received $49 million from the IRS through the CARES Act.

The law, passed by the Trump administration in 2020, pays stimulus money to offset 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 debts.

An example of asset liquidation is the sale of a store.

How does bankruptcy work?

Bankruptcy is a specific legal process that helps businesses eliminate debts they cannot pay.

The process allows businesses to start from scratch and gain access to new credit.

Overseen by federal courts, bankruptcies allow a company to more easily sell its assets to pay creditors, according to Investopedia.

Chapter 11, a common process for businesses, is used to restructure a business with the goal of staying open – even if it means selling 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 already closed dozens of stores across the country as it prepares to emerge from bankruptcy.

Red Lobster restaurants face an uncertain future amid speculation that the company may also declare bankruptcy.

Jo-Ann, formerly Joann Fabrics, filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to save its more than 850 stores.

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