Women’s apparel retailer Christopher & Banks Corp. has filed for bankruptcy while taking steps to close all of the company’s roughly 450 stores, the latest U.S. retailer planning to shut down for good over debt issues and pandemic disruptions, Wall Street Journal reported. The Plymouth, Minn.-based specialty retailer filed for chapter 11 protection Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, N.J., with the intention of holding going-out-of-business sales at store locations and finding a buyer for the company’s e-commerce business. The company is the latest victim “of the retail apocalypse that was first created by a customer migration away from brick-and-mortar stores and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a sworn declaration filed by President and Chief Executive Keri Jones. The company depended heavily on in-store traffic, which has declined in recent years due to competition from big-box retailers, rising online sales and changing consumer preferences, Ms. Jones said in court papers. As a result, Christopher & Banks has already determined that a sale of its traditional brick-and-mortar business is not achievable. The company said it reached out to about 180 potential investors and buyers but found no takers for all or some of its stores, Ms. Jones said. However, the e-commerce business is an attractive asset for buyers, she said. The retailer, which sells privately branded women’s apparel and accessories, was founded in 1956 as Braun’s Fashions in Minneapolis and was later rebranded as Christopher & Banks in 2000. The company now operates 449 locations in 44 states, including 314 Christopher & Banks’s Missy, Petite, Women stores, 76 outlet locations, 31 Christopher & Banks stores, and 28 stores selling women’s plus sizes, C.J. Banks.
