RETAIL BLUES: RadioShack closing 187 stores in latest bankruptcy filing.
The chain, based in Fort Worth, Texas, previously filed for bankruptcy in 2015, resulting in about 2,400 store closings. Subsequently, General Wireless, a joint venture of hedge fund Standard General and Sprint, acquired it and ran the remaining 1,700 stores.
In a Chapter 11 reorganization petition filed Wednesday in the U.S Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, General Wireless stated it planned to close 187 stores by March 13 and is “seeking to close and liquidate the inventory and other assets of between 530 and substantially all of their stores,” the company said in its filing.
Sprint paid General Wireless a $12 million “wind down payment,” and in return was transferred the leases for 115 stores, as well as equipment and furniture in 245 more stores where Sprint is the primary tenant.
The RadioShack stores that do not close March 13 will remain open and the company will continue evaluating options on them during the bankruptcy process.
RadioShack used to be my Christmas-all-year-round toy store, but today it isn’t just I can’t remember the last time I was in one — I can’t remember the last time I saw one.