 Goody's Family Clothing Inc. is a moderately priced family apparel
retailer operating in small to midsize markets, primarily throughout
the Southeast. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection on June 9. The Knoxville, Tenn.-based retailer's last
financial report boasted over $1 billion in retail sales.
The company, with more than 10,000 employees, has been authorized
by the bankruptcy court to continue operations as well as pay
employees and vendors while the reorganization takes place.
A press release from Goody's stated that it decided to file for
Chapter 11 "…after reviewing alternatives to address pressures from
tightening credit markets, strain on merchandise flow and a sizable
but isolated number of underperforming stores in the chain."
The statement continued: "The decision to close a large number of
stores and further consolidate operations was a difficult one and we
regret the impact that this will have on some of our employees.
However, we believe these are necessary steps as we work to improve
the business and return to profitability."
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The privately held clothier has advised the bankruptcy court that it
plans to liquidate a fourth of its stores in the near future. The
most recent list of store closings supplied by Goody's shows three
stores in Illinois earmarked for liquidation and closure. They are
stores located in Pekin, Carbondale and Danville.
The possibility of the list of store closures expanding is
difficult to ascertain, as company executives are referring all
media requests for information to their
press releases on the
Web.
A local, reliable source says two more Illinois locations have
been included in the company's closure list but the Lincoln store is
still safe. The report of the additional closures has not been
confirmed. With various news agencies reporting anywhere from 69 to
102 of the stores on the financial chopping block, the good news of
the Lincoln store being safe is positive but tenuous until company
officials confirm their final store closures list.
[AP; news releases; LDN]
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