An Express store promotes big sales at Valley West Mall in Iowa, in January 2020.
Andrew Harnik/AP
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Andrew Harnik/AP
An Express store promotes big sales at Valley West Mall in Iowa, in January 2020.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Clothing store Express, a longtime mainstay of U.S. malls, has filed for bankruptcy protection, closing dozens of stores but also eyeing a survival plan that involves selling it.
At its peak, Express provided generations of shoppers with slacks and blouses, even acquiring the Bonobos and UpWest brands.
But the chain has lost both customers and money as many malls withered and people changed the way they dress for work: less formal, more casual, less cookie-cutter, more attitude. Express – neither expensive nor cheap – lagged behind, dragged down further by rent and debt.
Monday’s bankruptcy announcement said the chain will close 95 Express stores, or just under a fifth of them, and all 10 UpWest stores. Last month, the New York Stock Exchange delisted the retailer due to its dwindling share value.
Now Express has received an offer to be acquired by a consortium. It includes brand management company WHP Global and major retail operators Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties. The companies have invested in more retail brands in need of a resuscitation in recent years.
New Express CEO Stewart Glendinning acknowledged “missteps” in apparel selection, “particularly in womenswear, where we were out of balance in terms of categories, price points and wearing occasions,” he told investors in November, adding: “We strongly believe there is a path to total business improvement.”
In its bankruptcy filing, Express said it is also receiving an infusion of $35 million in new financing from some of its lenders, plus another $49 million from the Internal Revenue Service related to the CARES Act, the federal coronavirus relief package.