U.S. discount retailer Payless ShoeSource Inc. today filed for chapter 11 protection for the second time, along with its North American subsidiaries, and said that it would wind down all North American stores by the end of May, Reuters reported. The retailer will close about 2,500 stores in North America starting from the end of March and wind down its e-commerce operations. “The prior proceedings left the company with too much remaining debt, too large a store footprint and a yet-to-be realized systems and corporate overhead structure consolidation,” Chief Restructuring Officer Stephen Marotta said. Stores outside North America were not included in the chapter 11 filing and will continue operations, the retailer added. The company exited bankruptcy in 2017 with about $400 million in loans, after slashing its debt pile from over $800 million, according to court papers. Payless listed both assets and liabilities in a range of $500 million to $1 billion in a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
