Wisconsin convenience store and gas station chain The Store is forced to close its 25 locations.
The Store, founded in 1976, will close its businesses at the end of July. It also has locations in Michigan.
But this isn’t the story of another retail chain that ran into financial trouble or was hit by falling sales.
The Wisconsin staple was forced to close after the company that owns its buildings and land, Mountain Express Oil, entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year.
A real estate investment company that purchased the land does not plan to extend the agreement for The Store to operate there.
It is believed he will build on them or get a new company – perhaps a national gas station chain like Chevron – to operate the sites.
The company is working to ensure that all current employees are hired by the next operator.
But The Store’s parent company, Team Schierl, said it is working with the next operator to ensure current employees are hired in their current roles after the transition. WSAW-TV reported.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy is more severe than Chapter 11 and means that a company has no intention of keeping and sells all of its assets. Chapter 11 is considered a reorganization bankruptcy.
In recent months, there have been a series of bankruptcies that have added to the closures of stores and restaurants.
On Monday we reported how BurgerFi, which bills itself as an upscale McDonald’s, has raised concerns about mass closures after revealing it is considering filing for bankruptcy.
Bosses are considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would allow it to break the leases on its worst-performing restaurants and sell their contents, as Red Lobster did last month.
In fact, Red Lobster closed nearly 100 after filing for bankruptcy in May. It is considering closing up to 135 more.
National luxury coffee and grocery chain Foxtrot said in early April it was closing all of its stores with immediate effect, leaving staff and customers stunned.
Meanwhile, retailer Express, a mall staple, filed for bankruptcy in April and said it would close 95 stores.
The closures are part of a larger slowdown in American retail, as nearly 2,600 stores have already closed so far this year.
The store, which was first established in 1976, will close its premises at the end of July.
99 Cents Only Store will close its 371 stores nationwide this year
Big names like Macy’s, Walmart, Walgreens, Foot Locker and 7-Eleven have said they are closing stores.
Discount stores like Family Dollar and the bankrupt 99 Cents Only have been hardest hit, as have pharmacies like CVS and Rite Aid.
If closures continued at the same pace for the rest of the year, they would total 7,800 in 2024, almost 40 percent more than the total in 2023.
Brick-and-mortar locations are struggling in the face of online competition.
