Bon Ton Stores, Incorporated is not commenting publicly, but industry analysts are saying the entire chain of stores will be going out of business after only two bidders, both liquidators, submitted bids at the company’s bankruptcy auction on Monday. Investment analyst website Seeking Alpha says Bon Ton CEO William Tracy sent a letter to employees yesterday saying the company “will begin an orderly wind-down of operations following the liquidation process.”
Just last week, Bon Ton said it was working with an investment group that aimed to keep the stores open, but the group did not submit a bid on Monday. Seeking Alpha says a hearing will be held today at which Bon Ton will ask the bankruptcy court to approve the sale of the company to one of the liquidators, and the stores are expected to close within ten to twelve weeks.
The Bon Ton at the Indiana Mall was one of the original anchor stores when the mall opened in 1979. The mall has not commented yet on the possible loss of the store, which comes in the wake of the closure of two of the other three anchors, Sears and Kmart, in the last year.
Bon Ton’s original plan was to close 42 stores last year, but the Indiana Mall store was not on that list. The company operates 250 stores in 23 states under the names Bon Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s Elder-Beerman, and Helbergers.
