Bon-Ton closing
Going-out-of-business sales start today,
Going-out-of-business sales for Boston Store, Younkers and other Bon-Ton Stores Inc. department stores will begin Friday.
The group of liquidators and creditors who bought Bon-Ton out of bankruptcy for almost $800 million in an auction that ended Tuesday and was approved by a judge Wednesday are wasting no time in winding down the retailer.
The company-ending sales are expected to last 10 to 12 weeks. All stores are to be closed no later than Aug. 31, according to a court document. The sale also is being conducted over Bon-Ton’s e-commerce websites, the company said.
The liquidation list has 212 stores, including furniture galleries. Twenty of the stores are in Wisconsin, including stores at Bayshore, Brookfield Square, Grand Avenue, Mayfair and Southridge malls in metro Milwaukee.
The stores bought in the bankruptcy auction are separate from a group of 42 weak-performing stores that the company started closing this winter and are slated to be shut down by the end of April.
Bon-Ton’s co-headquarters office in downtown Milwaukee has more than 700 employees. The company employs about 2,255 workers in total in the state. Nationally, it has more than 20,000 employees.
Although the company had sought a buyer that would keep Bon-Ton in business, only two bids that planned to
liquidate the retailer were received in an auction in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
A joint bid by Tiger Capital Group, a unit of liquidator Great American Group and a group of Bon-Ton debt-holders won, putting the retail chain on the clock.
In addition to Boston Store and Younkers, BonTon operates department stores in the U.S. under the brand names Bergner’s, Bon-Ton, Carson’s, ElderBeerman and Herberger’s.
A sign in the Milwaukee Grand Avenue Boston Store Thursday said Your Rewards, LoveStyle Rewards and all other coupons aren’t valid for the store-closing sale. In addition, there will be no adjustments on previously purchased merchandise. Rewards cards and coupons may be redeemed online, the sign stated.
The sale document shows that the Boston Stores at Southridge and Brookfield Square are the biggest department stores in the chain at 221,000 and 218,705 square feet, respectively.