Stage Stores Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Houston-based Stage Stores filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday, another retail casualty of the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Stage Stores is the parent company for several rural and discount department stores, including Bealls, Goody’s, Palais Royal, Peebles, Stage and Gordmans. The retailer filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.

The court filing showed that the company has both estimated assets and liabilities in the $500M to $1B range.

Stage Stores will solicit bids for the sale of the business or any of its assets, and is beginning to wind down its operations. If an investor purchases the company, some locations could remain in business.

The company said it will also focus on reopening to liquidate its inventory. The first phase of about 557 stores will open on May 15, the second phase of about 67 stores will open on May 28 and the remaining stores will open on June 4.

“This is a very difficult announcement and it was a decision that we reached only after exhausting every possible alternative. Over the last several months, we had been taking significant steps to attempt to strengthen our financial position and find an independent path forward,” Stage Stores President and CEO Michael Glazer said in a statement.

“However, the increasingly challenging market environment was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which required us to temporarily close all of our stores and furlough the vast majority of our associates. Given these conditions, we have been unable to obtain necessary financing and have no choice but to take these actions.”

Stage Stores Chief Financial Officer Jason Curtis is leaving the company for another retailer, effective May 22. Glazer will oversee the finance function, and the company has retained Rick Stasyszen, who served as the company’s senior vice president of finance until 2019.