Bankrupt Rue21 store closures will include Puyallup, Auburn
Article has been updated with additional comment from a South Hill Mall representative.
A national clothing retailer whose life spanned almost a half century is leaving the area amid its third bankruptcy.
Rue21 (no connection to competing retailer Forever 21) recently announced it would be closing all of its U.S. stores in the wake of entering its third bankruptcy since 2003. The filing was entered May 2.
CNN reported earlier in May that the retailer holds about $200 million in debt and has 4,900 employees.
According to a court filing from interim CEO Michele Pascoe, the retail Pascoe er’s “primary demographic includes both adolescent and young adults. Average household income for Rue21’s core customer base is approximately $50,000 annually, and its core customers are focused on making value priced purchases.”
further explained that the stores had been hit with the reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic, “related adverse market trends, including a shift in consumer shopping patterns from traditional brickand-mortar retailers to online retailers and changing consumer preferences.”
Rue21, based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, has more than 500 stores in the United States, with seven in Washington state. Locally, it has a store at South Hill Mall in Puyallup.
Other Washington locations include The Outlet Collection Seattle in Auburn as well as stores in East Wenatchee, Kennewick, Moses Lake and two in Spokane.
The current going-outof-business sales nationwide are expected to last the next 4-6 weeks.
Joe Bell, media representative for the mall, said in response to questions about Rue21’s departure that “It’s unfortunate but that company has been having a rough time for the past few years.”
He added that “Our leasing executives are already engaging with other business owners who might be eager to set up shop at the mall.”