Payless To Begin Liquidation Sales At VA, DC Stores

FALLS CHURCH, VA — Payless will begin liquidation sales at its U.S. stores on Sunday, a company spokesperson said.

"We expect all stores to remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May," the spokesperson said in a statement. Liquidation sales will begin on Feb. 17.
Reuters reported on Friday that the discount shoe retailer plans to close all of its U.S. stores as part of a bankruptcy filing later this month.

The closings would affect about 2,300 U.S. stores, according to the Reuters report. Sources told Reuters that a buyer could still crop up.

Below is the full statement from Payless:

"Payless will begin liquidation sales at its U.S. and Puerto Rico stores on February 17, 2019, and is winding down its e-commerce operations. We expect all stores to remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May. This process does not affect the Company's franchise operations or its Latin American stores, which remain open for business as usual."

Payless currently operates over 2,700 stores in North America and Puerto Rico, including several in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia:

• Mount Vernon Plaza, Alexandria
• Leesburg Pike Plaza, S. Jefferson Street, Falls Church
• 5942 Kingstown Blvd., Alexandria
• Seven Corners Center, Falls Church
• Springfield Town Center Mall, Springfield
• Marumsco Plaza, Woodbridge
• Potomac Mills, Woodbridge
• Fair Lakes Center, Fairfax
• Fair Oaks Mall, Fairfax
• North Point Village Center, Reston
• Manaport Plaza, Manassas
• Manassas Mall, Manassas
• Dulles Town Center, Dulles
• Hechinger Mall, Washington, DC
• 3100 14th St. NW, Washington, DC

As part of a bankruptcy filing in 2017, Payless closed nearly 700 stores.

News of the potential store closings comes as another big retailer, Sears, narrowly escaped going out of business. Earlier this month, a bankruptcy judge approved a $5.7 billion bid to keep the business operating.

You can read the full Reuters report here.

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— By Patch editor Feroze Dhanoa

Image via Google Maps