Well-known shoe retailer The Walking Company filed for bankruptcy protection on December 7th. The retailer plans to close as many as 90 underperforming locations throughout the U.S. As part of these closures, the company is seeking court approval to reject the leases as well. If successful, The Walking Company hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 in the first half of 2010.
The footwear portion of their business experienced strong growth between 2005 and 2008 and added roughly 140 stores over this period. Unfortunately, another brand under The Walking Company umbrella, Big Dogs apparel, had 230 stores and falling sales over this same period. Walking Company liquidated the line, but took a $12 million net loss as a result.
With a crumbling economy in 2008 and above market rental rates on newer stores, the company was ultimately forced into lay off mode, letting go of 500 employees and delisting itself from NASDAQ. Their rapid expansion at a time when retail rents peaked has the company now looking to “walk away” from 90 lease obligations in a number of markets including Oregon.
The two locations closing in Oregon are at Pioneer Place and Washington Square Mall. The largest number of closures are in Florida, with 18 stores shuttering their doors.
source: Costar
[...] the heels, no pun intended – well maybe, of a previous post regarding the closure of many stores, The Walking Company announced more store closings. The company is now seeking to close an [...]