Inside an NYC Payless store (Credit: Getty Images)
From the New York website: Discount shoe purveyor Payless Shoes is considering shuttering some 1,000 stores to deal with its $600 million debt load.
The retailer is debating whether or not to restructure in or out of court, Bloomberg reported. The company might file for bankruptcy if it can’t reach a deal with its creditors.
Payless has at least 100 stores in the greater Los Angeles metro area, according to its website. It has more than 4,400 stores across 30 countries and employs 25,000 people.
Private equity firms Golden Gate Capital and Blum Capital Partners bought Payless in 2012, as part of a deal that split up Collective Brands, the shoe store’s publicly traded parent company. Other retailers, including Claire’s, True Religion, J. Crew and Gymboree are also struggling to compete with online stores, according to Bloomberg. [Bloomberg] —