PAYLESS CLOSING 12 OHIO STORES, NONE IN DAYTON

Payless ShoeSource will close 12 stores in Ohio after filing for bankruptcy on Tuesday.

The Kansas-based retailer will close nearly 400 underperforming locations in the U.S., and announced on Wednesday that 12 stores in Ohio are on that list.

No locations will close in the Dayton area, but two stores in Cincinnati will close and another one in Tri-County Mall in Springdale will close. Other impacted stores are located in Columbus, Lima, Lancaster, Akron, Eastlake, Elyria, Mount Vernon and Massillon.

Payless’ North American entities, and two of its Hong Kong-based entities, filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

“This is a difficult, but necessary, decision driven by the continued challenges of the retail environment, which will only intensify,” said Paul Jones, Payless chief executive officer. “We will build a stronger Payless for our customers, vendors and suppliers, associates, business partners and other stakeholders through this process.”

Payless also negotiated agreements with certain of its existing lenders to provide the company access of up to $385 million of Debtor-in-Possession financing.

“We intend to use the Chapter 11 process to implement a comprehensive path forward to meaningfully enhance our growth profile and profitability, positioning us to continue to thrive as a sustainable business in the face of the retail industry’s radical, unprecedented transformation,” the company said in a statement.

The company has at least eight locations in the Miami Valley.