Amarillo May Lose A Popular Shoe Store *UPDATED*

It seems more and more every day companies are announcing that they are closing down their stores.  First we lose Hastings, then Gander Mountain announced it will be closing stores, followed by JCPenney, and now a popular shoe store has announced it will be closing over 400 stores.

UPDATE: Amarillo Loses the store located in KB Plaza on Amarillo Blvd W and the Payless in Dumas will be closing.

The climate of business is changing, not only to businesses have to compete with competitors they have to compete with online sales where in most cases the products can be found for a smaller price.

Payless, announced yesterday that it will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The company is hoping to restructure with the filing.

As a part of this restructuring plan, Payless plans to immediately close 400 of it's stores in the U.S and Puerto Rico.  As of this time they have not announced which stores will be closing.

According to Payless CEO, Paul Jones:

 “This is a difficult, but necessary, decision driven by the continued challenges of the retail environment, which will only intensify. We will build a stronger Payless for our customers, vendors and suppliers, associates, business partners and other stakeholders through this process. While we have had to make many tough choices, we appreciate the substantial support we have received from our lenders, who share our belief that we have a unique opportunity to enable Payless — the iconic American footwear retailer with one of the best-recognized global brands — to remain the go-to shoe store for customers in America and around the globe.”

Amarillo currently has 4-Payless stores, 5722 W. Amarillo Blvd, 3300 I-40 E in Grand Plaza, 2600 Soncy Rd, and one inside Westgate Mall.  No word yet on if one or all of the stores will be closing.  We will keep you up to date on the closures.