Southern home goods retailer Conn’s Home Plus will be closing its doors to all its stores just a week after the company announced an initial round of closures.
The company announced on its website that the closures apply to more than 170 stores in over a dozen states.
The subsequent job losses will affect more than 4,000 people.
The 134-year-old company, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, recently filed for bankruptcy.
On June 26, the company received a delisting notice from Nasdaq after its shares fell more than 90 percent for the year.
Stores in 15 States
The closures will affect stores across the company’s 15 states of operation. These include five locations in Alabama, 10 in Arizona, six in Colorado, 20 in Florida, six in Georgia, 11 in Louisiana, two in Mississippi, 12 in North Carolina, five in New Mexico, three in Nevada, four in Oklahoma, five in South Carolina, six in Tennessee, five in Virginia, and 74 in Texas.
Conn’s Home Plus acquired fellow home goods retailer W.S. Badcock at the end of last year. The company operated multiple Badcock Home Furniture & More stores in locations across the Southeast.
The number of stores subsequently rose to more than 500 locations between the two brands; however, significant losses in fiscal 2023 and a decrease in earnings in its fourth-quarter earnings call in April led to Babcock’s closure of an additional 35 stores, excluding Conn’s store closures.
The company has yet to release a public statement on the closures but is advertising going-out-of-business sales. It is unclear when they will shut their doors to customers.
NTD has contacted Conn’s Home Plus for comment but did not hear back before publication.
Bankruptcies First Half of Year
More than 3,000 commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcies were filed in the January–June period this year, marking a sharp increase of 34 percent from last year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).
“The continued increase in bankruptcy filings reflects the growing economic strain on businesses and households,” ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss said.
High inflation and interest rates have been the major cause of the current economic climate, with businesses, and specifically retailers, having experienced the brunt of the situation.
Interest rates set by the Federal Reserve have been teetering between 5.25 percent and 5.50 percent since July last year, adding to businesses’ financial woes.
Over the past year, the 12-month inflation rate has remained above 3 percent as of June, with some estimating the figure to be far higher, according to some analysts.