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Charlotte Russe Holding Corp., which operates Charlotte Russe, a fashion brand for females filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection over the weekend, impacted local stores.
The company announced that it is planning to close 94 stores, including locations at the Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown Heights and Rockland Plaza on Route 59 in Nanuet. The stores at the Galleria Mall in White Plains and Palisades Center in West Nyack were not on the initial list of locations closing.
Charlotte Russe becomes the latest retailer to feel the pressures of Internet shopping. In recent years, once booming companies such as Sears, Toys R Us, Kmart, Ann Taylor and GameStop have all been forced to close hundreds of stores.
According to CNN, in 2009, private equity firm Advent International bought Charlotte Russe in a $380 million cash-for-stock deal. Last year, Charlotte Russe reached a deal to reduce its debt from $214 million to $90 million. Despite the deal, Charlotte Russe's sales plummeted from $928 million in 2017 to $795 million last year.
Comparable store sales fell 11.7% during the third quarter of 2018, according to data from Moodys. Officials said that Charlotte Russe has received a commitment for a debtor in possession financing in the maximum amount of $50 million. If approved by the Bankruptcy Court, the financing will support the Company's operations and administration during the Chapter 11 proceedings.
In the court filing Monday, Charlotte Russe said it "suffered from a dramatic decrease in sales and in-store traffic" and struggled with "the burden of maintaining a large brick-and-mortar presence."
Charlotte Russe and Peek stores and online platforms will remain operational and continue serving customers. The company is expected to provide more details about plans for the closing stores in the near future.
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