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The Bon-Ton Stores

Closeouts: Bon-Ton offers up to 60% discounts at closing stores

Paul Gores
USA TODAY

MILWAUKEE -- Bon-Ton is conducting store-closing sales now at 42 locations -- and the discounts are getting deeper.

Bon-Ton operates under a variety of names.

One location in Milwaukee now has merchandise marked up to 60% off. It's the "final clarance" phase for a Boston Store clearance center. Overall, the amount of discounts so far vary by store.

The shutdowns come on top of five closings that already were in the works and will whittle Bon-Ton's retail store count to about 210 in 24 states.

Bon-Ton, which has dual headquarters in Milwaukee and York, Pa., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 4. Bon-Ton, the parent company of Boston Store, Younkers and other department stores, has been unprofitable for seven consecutive years and is struggling with debt and slumping sales.

The 29,000-square-foot Boston Store Clearance Center opened in 2013 as the first stand-alone clearance store for Bon-Ton.

The store-closing sales started Feb. 1 and were set to last 10 to 12 weeks. That plan still is on schedule, said Bon-Ton spokeswoman Christine Hojnacki. But the closings could take place "sooner or later depending on merchandise sell through," she said.

Right now, discounts are 40% to 60% off the lowest ticketed price, although a limited number of products are excluded from those discounts, Hojnacki said.

The stores singled out for closing were identified in a turnaround plan Bon-Ton created with consultant AlixPartners. The turnaround plan stated that Bon-Ton's portfolio of about 260 stores contained "a sizeable portion of poorly performing stores that contribute minimal value to the organization."

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More:Bon-Ton Stores files Chapter 11 bankruptcy as department stores reel

More:Bon-Ton Stores closing another 42 stores in 2018

After doing a detailed analysis of about 100 of Bon-Ton's worst-performing stores, 42 were selected to be closed, and another 20 were put on a watch list to monitor for further deterioration. Some of those slated for closing are located in what the turnaround plan labeled "dying malls or centers and suffering from overwhelming competitive pressures."

The 42 closings will eliminate approximately 1,860 jobs, or an average of 44 per store.


 

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