Mall-Based Retailer Closing Almost 20% of Stores

Charlotte Russe became the latest mall-based apparel retailer to file for Chapter 11 last week. In the process, the company confirmed that it is putting itself up for sale and will close 94 stores. According to Chain Store Guide’s Database of Apparel Specialty Stores, the company had 528 stores at the time of the announcement, meaning the company will trim 17.8% of portfolio. States notably affected by the closure include Hawaii (3 of 4 stores closing), Maryland (6 of 13 closing) and New York (9 of 31). California is the state with the most units slated for closing with 11.

The story is familiar – saddled with debt and taken private by private equity in 2009, the company reached a deal with lenders in late 2017 to reduce its debt from $210 million to $90 million in the hopes of staying afloat. Last week’s move wasn’t unexpected, and talk of bankruptcy led S&P Global to download its credit rating in January.

As always, Chain Store Guide will keep our readers and database subscribers up to date as the process plays out. As of this writing, subscribers to CSG’s Apparel Specialty Stores Database have access to more than 50 executives and decision makers at Charlotte Russe along with 28,000 additional personnel across the apparel industry.