Carson’s, a fixture at the Yorktown Center and one of the center’s anchor stores when Yorktown first opened in 1968, will be closing its doors—along with Carson’s Furniture Gallery in the nearby Yorktown Convenience Center—after a federal bankruptcy court approved the sale of Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. to two liquidation companies last week.
One of the nation’s largest department store firms, Bon-Ton—the parent company of Carson’s based in Milwaukee—will liquidate all of its 256 stores across the country, including Carson’s, Bergner’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s, Younkers, Boston Store and Bon-Ton.
Bon-Ton Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, but did not find a buyer at that time.
Prior to last week’s bankruptcy court sale, a last-ditch effort was made by a group to buy Bon-Ton out of bankruptcy and continue to operate some stories, but that bid fell through. Published reports said Bon-Ton has been unprofitable since 2011.
“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 Bon-Ton President and CEO Bill Tracy.
The Carson’s and Carson’s Furniture Gallery in Lombard are scheduled to close sometime in August. Of Carson’s 30 stores in Illinois, 26 are located in the Chicago area. In addition to the closings in Lombard, Carson’s stores in Aurora, Bloomingdale, DeKalb, Dundee, Joliet, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Naperville, Norridge, North Riverside, Orland Park, St. Charles, Schaumburg, Vernon Hills and Wilmette will be closing.
According to CNN Money’s website, Bon-Ton blamed e-commerce “as a prime culprit leading to its downfall” after filing for bankruptcy.
Traditional brick-and-mortar retail outlets have been in a downward spiral in recent years, and even more so in recent months. According to a report from Moody’s in April, retail sector defaults hit a record high in the first three months of 2018. Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy last September, and in March announced it will either shut down or sell all 735 of its stores after nearly 70 years in business. Also in March, Claire’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Going back to 2017, Abercrombie & Fitch, Foot Locker, J.C. Penney, Sam’s Club, Macy’s, Gap and Banana Republic, and Sears and Kmart have closed stores across the country. Sears announced in January that it was closing 103 Sears and Kmart stores. Also in January, Sears Holdings laid off 220 employees at its corporate offices—many of those layoffs occurring at the corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates.
