Value City files for bankruptcy

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

COLUMBUS — Discount retailer Value City Department Stores and its subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy protection and announced plans to close their remaining stores.

In bankruptcy papers filed in New York, the Columbus-based company says declining sales, tight credit and the sour economy have crippled its business.

The filings follow a series of restructuring efforts and layoffs aimed at keeping the business afloat. It has closed more than 75 stores since December 2007.

The chain’s stores in Boardman and Alliance were scheduled to close earlier this year, but a buyout group that took over operations changed its mind and kept the stores open.

Value City has been running advertisements saying that “all sales are final,” but a spokeswoman said last week that did not mean the stores were closing.

As of last spring, the Boardman store and adjacent Value City Home store employed 188, while the Alliance store employed 42.

From February to August of this year, the company had a net loss of $70 million on $288.5 million in sales.

Value City says it has 66 open stores and more than 4,500 employees in 14 states, including Ohio.

It began as part of the discount retailers run by the Schottenstein family of Columbus.