Century 21 Stores — a destination for bargain hunters looking for fat deals on designer dresses and shoes, cosmetics and housewares for nearly 60 years — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is winding down its business, shutting all 13 stores across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida.
Century 21 joins more than two dozen retailers who have filed for bankruptcy since the pandemic which forced non-essential stores to temporarily close.
In a statement, the New York-based company said that the decision followed nonpayment by the company’s insurance providers of approximately $175 million due under policies put in place to protect against losses stemming from business interruption. That insurance money helped it rebuild its flagship store, a magnet for locals and tourists in downtown Manhattan after it was damaged by the 9/11 attacks, the company said.
“We now have no viable alternative but to begin the closure of our beloved family business because our insurers, to whom we have paid significant premiums every year for protection against unforeseen circumstances like we are experiencing today, have turned their backs on us at this most critical time,” said Century 21 co-CEO Raymond Gindi in statement.
Gindi said that if Century 21 had received “any meaningful portion” of the insurance proceeds, it would have been able “to save thousands of jobs and weather the storm in hopes of another incredible recovery.”
The company said that it’s removing from the bankruptcy court a lawsuit pending in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against several of its insurance providers based on their failure to compensate the company for its losses under the policies. The company is requesting that the bankruptcy court expedite the adjudication of the suit for the benefit of its stakeholders.
Century 21 says it’s starting going-out-of business sales at all of its stores and online.
(AP)
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9 Responses
Another business killed by democrats
Trump, Trump caused this. He lied and ignored the virus. This all lies at his feet. Print that!
A sad day! These were tremendous balei chessed.
When other commentors say Trump ignored the virus. He was called a racist for supporting a ban on flights from China. He was also in the middle of the Russia-Ukraine Collusion nonsense that no one actually cares about…Oh, and De Blasio closed down NYC long after other major cities (like LA) closed.
Donald J Trump did not lock down the country. The virus should be gone like everywhere else. This is going on forever thanks to bad leadership.
What a shame!!! 🙁
Doviber,
The virus is gone everywhere else?
Not sure where you get your news from, maybe CNN (China news network)
DoviBer, just look at Israel, they did lock down the country and look how much it “helped” them!
WgFPD2, if only we ignored the virus, it would have been all over by now and economy would not have tanked! Hospital would not have neglected so many covid-19 patients and would not be allowed to ship so many of them back to nursing homes. There is no science real behind all these lockdowns.
Fauci knew 3 years ago that Trump would face a surprise pandemic. He said that at Georgetown University. Despite him knowing that early on over 30 million unemployed. Also Cuomo was complaining about not having enough ventilators. Either Fauci told him that there will be a pandemic and Cuomo didn’t take it seriously or they never had a discussion about it. Trump immediately banned all flights from China and was called a racist for it. The countries with the strictest lock-downs have the highest death rate per million. There are 9 countries ahead of the U.S. in the category. NY has more deaths than several republican run states combined.