Stage stores how many stores

There were skeptics all along that the retailer could pull off its plans. Nearly years old, Stage Stores rolled up numerous department store banners into a retailer formed originally by merging the Bealls and Palais Royal chains. It entered the off-price market by buying Gordmans out of bankruptcy in Gordmans had fallen on hard times along with much of retail, despite the ascendance of off-price giants like TJX Cos.

Nonetheless, Stage Stores saw its future in the Gordmans model, which promised younger customers and a more popular model than its fading department stores. Some were skeptical about Stage Stores' plans to convert to Gordmans so quickly, given the small sample size of stores it based its plans on and its relatively small supply of capital to power the conversions with.

Would the retailer have survived, though, in a market absent a pandemic? That question will have to remain a hypothetical, as the retailer winds down its business and prepares to turn off the lights. Stage Stores isn't the only discounter to enter bankruptcy this year. Stein Mart and Tuesday Morning — both, like Stage, smaller chains without the scale and buying power of the large off-pricers — filed for bankruptcy this year amid the COVID disruption.

Not even the best-performing sectors in retail can provide shelter from the pandemic and the industry trends it has accelerated. Follow Ben Unglesbee on Twitter. Arhaus announced the pricing of its IPO of After a rapid leadership shakeup, and amid significant debt, a ransomware attack and the pandemic followed, leading Alex and Ani to file bankruptcy. Topics covered: retail tech, e-commerce, in-store operations, marketing, and more.

Search x. An article from. Dive Brief. Published Aug. The COVID crisis also forced the retailer to temporarily close its stores, which led to a massive revenue hit. As it tried to shore up liquidity and avoid Chapter 11, the company asked its vendors for help in the form of longer payment terms, according to a memo to its vendor base obtained by Retail Dive.

Stage says its landlords helped tip the company into bankruptcy. The threats, she said, amounted to "an existential threat" to the company's operations, and dealing with them "would have been a monumentally difficult task" without bankruptcy protection. Reopening has given the retailer some relief. Stage Stores filed for Chapter 11 with a forked plan: it will liquidate while also trying to sell itself.

If a buyer emerges, the retailer will be saved. If not, it will disappear. Currently, 21 parties are actively assessing a purchase of one sort or another, with nine of those looking at a going-concern transaction that would keep Stage Stores whole, according to a presentation the company prepared for the judge in its bankruptcy case.

Another four are assessing a partial asset sale, and nine haven't confirmed what they're interested in. Perry Mandarino, head of restructuring and co-head of investment banking for B. Riley FBR, said in an interview that there is an appetite in the market even for bankrupt retailers in the current environment, especially among discount retailers and those with strong e-commerce operations.

But that doesn't necessarily mean there is an appetite for Stage Stores specifically. As with Pier 1 , which recently announced it would liquidate after it failed to find a buyer in bankruptcy, the company had tested interest for the business well before it filed, without luck. And while Gordmans may have carved out a geographic and demographic niche in the off-price space, Saunders said that "the spoils" of the sector "are going to go to the existing players in the market like T.

Maxx, they're not really going to go to the Gordmans of this world. The chances of another retailer taking on Stage is slim, in Saunders' view.

Financial buyers like private equity firms looking to take on a distressed asset and turn it around might not offer much more hope. He added, "All of this has been made all the more unlikely by the fact that most people will run a mile from retail because, other than a few select players, this is not a great market.

This article has been updated with information from Stage Stores about recent store performance as well as parties assessing a potential acquisition. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the model of the first Bealls store. Follow Ben Unglesbee on Twitter. Gen Z sets trends fast — and they won't hesitate to leave retailers who can't keep up in the dust.

The pandemic upended some trends and dramatically accelerated others to further disrupt the flow of goods from manufacturers to retailers to consumers. Keep up with the story. Subscribe to the Retail Dive free daily newsletter. Topics covered: retail tech, e-commerce, in-store operations, marketing, and more.

Search x. An article from. Deep Dive. Published May 26, Ben Unglesbee Senior Reporter. While paying respects at a memorial outside of NRG Park, some attendees raised more questions about the chaotic scene not even 48 hours prior. Most Popular. Astros' Carlos Correa named top defensive player in AL. Rockets look to remedy inability to finish tight games.

POST Houston's new food hall brings acclaimed chefs, more. Ex-Astros pitching coach Brent Strom set to join Diamondbacks.