If you're a fan of the Gordman's in the West View Shopping Center in Warrensburg it's good news bad news. The good news is the store is open again 11:00AM - 7:00PM CDT Monday - Saturday and Noon to 5:00PM CDT on Sunday. The bad news, it doesn't look like the store is going to be around much longer.

In a business update dated May 10, Stage Stores (the parent company of Gordman's) announced that they had voluntarily filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy because the company could not find financing to continue operating. While undergoing bankruptcy Stage Stores will be winding down their operations, while trying to find a buyer for their off price concept.

So there's a good chance, barring someone buying the Gordman's brand and continuing it's operation, the store will be going away.

Gordman's will be honoring gift cards, returns and other existing customer programs for 30 days after stores reopen. The store will not be selling gift cards and urges shoppers who have gift cards "to use them while they can." If there is a silver lining in any of this, the store promises bigger deals and smaller prices during their store closing sales.

COVID-19 had a devastating effect on Stage Stores, but it's not the only reason it's failing. According to CNBC, "The retailer previously struggled with competing against large-scale retailers as well as e-commerce sellers. The pandemic further burdened the retailer by causing Stage Stores to temporarily close all of its 738 locations and furlough virtually all of its store and distribution employees."

Unfortunately, the story will be similar for a lot of stores. JC Penny, in bankruptcy and closing a third of it's stores according to yahoo.com, has been suffering since they got rid of sales and tried "fair and square" pricing. They've been trying to claw their way back since then with mixed results as they too try and fight off Amazon and stores like Walmart and Target.

Then there's Sears, which has amazingly somehow not gone belly up. According to CNBC, "Sears lost money nearly every year over the past decade, amid competition from e-commerce firms such as Amazon.com, while Lampert, formerly the company’s chairman and chief executive, provided financing lines to keep it afloat." The website reports Sears just got a $100 million dollars in new financing to keep it afloat.

I know two things for sure, shopping centers and malls might come out of this looking very different. It doesn't matter if it's Thompson Hills in Sedalia, West View in Warrensburg, or Independence Center in Independence. Second, if you have a Gordman's gift card. I'd use it sooner rather than later.

 

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