Loehmann’s Locations Begin Shuttering

Time to shop is growing short for Loehmann’s bargain hunters. Less than three weeks into the going-out-of-business sales, five locations have already closed completely. Six more will lock up for the last time this Sunday.

“The stuff has been selling really quickly,” Loehmann’s representative Melissa Krantz said Monday. The stores are closed as merchandise dwindles, resulting in quicker shutterings at locations where the sales have been the most popular.

Locations in Long Beach, Calif.; Reseda, Calif.; Atlanta; Northbrook, Ill.; and Troy, Mich., closed on Sunday. It will be lights out for six more locations on Feb. 2: Hewlett, N.Y.; Rockville, Md.; Sunnyvale, Calif., San Ramon, Calif., Irvine, Calif., and Moorestown, N.J., according to Ms. Krantz.

Loehmann’s also announced on its website that Monday, Jan. 20, was the last day it would honor store credits. Gift cards will be honored until Feb. 7.

Loehmann’s Holdings Inc., the owner of the Loehmann’s retail stores, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late December.  Through the process, the company sold its merchandise to a group of liquidators, which is conducting the going-out-of-business sales. That sale was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on Jan. 7, and the going-out-of-business sales began on Jan. 9.

According to the terms of the sale agreement, the liquidators are to honor gifts cards during the first 30 days of the sales. The agreement also says that store credits should be accepted upon Loehmann’s direction. Loehmann’s is responsible for reimbursing liquidators for whatever store credits or gift cards are spent during the sales.

Loehmann’s is the third designer discounter to liquidate in the past few years. Syms Corp., which owns Filene’s Basement, went down the same path in 2011; Daffy’s Inc. liquidated in 2012.

Write to Stephanie Gleason at [email protected].  Follow her on Twitter at @stephgleason.