FORSYTH, Ill. (WAND/AP) — Hundreds of retail stores under the Bon-Ton umbrella will close after a winning bid in their bankruptcy.
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. runs numerous chains including Bergner’s and Carson’s.
Bergner’s has stores in Forsyth, Springfield and Champaign. Carson’s operates in both Danville and Mattoon.
Two liquidation firms are the victors of an auction for the bankrupt company's assets, after the retailer failed to find a bidder willing to continue operating the business. A bankruptcy court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday to approve the sale and liquidation details.
"While we are disappointed by this outcome and tried very hard to identify bidders interested in operating the business as a going concern, we are committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations," said President and CEO Bill Tracy.
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. was operating 260 stores in 24 states, largely in the Northeast and Midwest, when it filed for bankruptcy in January. Liquidation firms Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group are the winners of the auction.
The 160-year-old company has survived economic recessions and depressions, but it couldn't withstand technology that bolstered the ascendance of electronic retailing. The shift toward e-commerce, led by Amazon.com Inc., has claimed many other traditional and mall-based retailers, including cultural retail behemoth Toys R Us.
Bon-Ton closed its store at Valley Mall in February. It still has stores at the Chambersburg Mall north of Chambersburg, Pa., and Foxcroft Town Center in Martinsburg, W.Va.
Toys R Us is in the process of shutting down its U.S. business. In March it initiated a going-out-of-business sale at its stores after operating under bankruptcy protection for months.
That development could pose issues for mall owners, like CBL Properties, the owner of Hickory Point Mall in Forsyth. Hickory Point is one of 16 CBL properties at risk of losing an anchor store.
In a statement, CBL CEO Stephen Lebovitz said he is “disappointed with the outcome,” but will be “working on contingency plans for each center impacted.”
WAND News reached out to a spokeswoman for Bon-Ton Stores Inc. but did not hear back by Tuesday night.
