Payless Inc. is in talks with its lenders over a restructuring plan that includes closing about 1,000 stores as it wrestles with an unsustainable debt load, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The discount shoe retailer may consider filing for bankruptcy if it’s unable to reach a deal with the creditors. A decision on whether to restructure in or out of court may be reached as soon as this month. The chain has hired Guggenheim Partners to help in the effort. Payless was bought by private equity firms Golden Gate Capital and Blum Capital Partners in 2012 as part of a split of publicly traded Collective Brands Inc. The company, founded in 1956 in Topeka, Kansas, has more than 4,400 stores in 30 countries and employs more than 25,000 people, according to its website. The company’s biggest debt piece is a $520 million term loan due in 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The loan, which was last quoted above par July 2014, declined another 2 cents to trade around 51 cents on the dollar.
