It's Official: Bon-Ton Going Out Of Business

WISCONSIN — It's official: Bon-Ton Stores stores across Wisconsin and the U.S. will close within the next 10-12 weeks after the company was acquired by a liquidation group in bankruptcy court late yesterday.

Bon-Ton stores announced late Tuesday evening that a joint venture composed of the holders of the Company's 8.0 percent Second Lien Secured Note and Great American Group, LLC and Tiger Capital Group, LLC will acquire the inventory and certain other assets of the Company. The winning bid was $775.5 million.

The liquidation of the company’s more than 200 stores is expected to take 10 to 12 weeks according to a Journal Sentinel report Wednesday.

According to a letter the company filed with the State Department of Workforce development, the earliest date of layoffs is anticipated to be June 5, and could affect as many as 2,255 employees statewide.

Here are the list of Wisconsin stores that are closing:

• Younkers, Fox River Mall in Appleton
• Boston Store, Heritage Village in Beaver Dam
• Elder-Beerman, Eclipse Center in Beloit
• Younkers, Forrest Mall in Fond Du Lac
• Younkers, Lakeshore Edgewater Plaza in Manitowoc
• Younkers, Pine Tree Mall in Marinette
• Boston Store Clearance Center, 5659 S. 27th Street in Milwaukee
• Younkers, Mariner Mall in Superior
• Younkers, Wausau Center Mall in Wausau

A hearing by the Bankruptcy Court to approve the sale and wind-down of the Company's operations is scheduled for Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

Bill Tracy, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "While we are disappointed by this outcome and tried very hard to identify bidders interested in operating the business as a going concern, we are committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations that minimizes the impact of this development on our associates, customers, vendors and the communities we serve. We are incredibly grateful to all of our associates for their dedicated service to Bon-Ton and to our millions of loyal customers who we have had the pleasure to serve as their hometown store for more than 160 years."

The Company's stores, e-commerce and mobile platforms under the Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's and Younkers nameplates will remain open throughout the store-closing sales.

Bon-Ton expects to provide more details about the liquidation plans and going out of business sales at its stores following approval of the winning bid by the Bankruptcy Court.

Photo by Rusty Kennedy/Associated Press