Liquidation sales at Payless begin Sunday, all US stores should close in March

Payless is the last chain of stores to close in the United States.

The discount shoe store will close its 2,100 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico in the coming months, a spokesman told CNN Business on Friday. Liquidation sales will begin Sunday and stores will begin shutting down in March, but most of them will open until May.

Payless also plans to close its online store. The company could declare bankruptcy a second time by the end of the month, according to reported information.

Founded in 1956 in Topeka, Kansas, Payless has more than 3,600 locations in 40 countries and more than 18,000 employees, according to its website. A spokesman said his international franchises and Latin American stores would not be affected.

The company first filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in April 2017 and closed approximately 400 stores at that time. He has reorganized and reduced the multi-million dollar debt, but that does not seem to have been enough to save society.

It is common for retailers to try to use bankruptcy to reorganize themselves by deleveraging and closing stores. Often, these companies end up with a second bankruptcy soon after. That's what happened with Gymboree and RadioShack.

Payless is the newest brick and mortar industry to suffer in the Amazon era, joining Toys "R" Us, Brookstone and Charlotte Russian clothing store. Online shopping has reduced pedestrian traffic in US shopping centers, which have been a vital source of customers for stores like Payless.

"The pace of disruption in the retail business is widely acknowledged," said Greg Portell, partner of consulting firm A.T. Kearney, told CNN Business. "Yet the pace of change at retailers continues to slow. Many retailers find themselves trapped in a cycle of pursuing consumer trends … Without bold action, the retail landscape will continue to be sown in bankruptcy. "