Another retailer is giving up. Ascena Retail Group is closing all 650 Dressbarn stores. The chain, which has been around for some five decades, has been struggling to compete with both actual store and online competitors. One of those locations was in Portage, but there are still locations all over Michigan, including the Tanger Outlets off of US 131 in Byron Center, and at the Outlet Shoppes in Fremont, Indiana.

Once CNBC.com, there's a troubling quote from the company's Chief Financial Officer Steven Taylor: “Dressbarn chain has not been operating at an acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment.” This begs the question, are stores closing because they are losing money, or are they simply not making enough?

The retailer said customers will be able to continue to shop from Dressbarn stores and online, as the closures won’t take place immediately. It hasn’t outlined an exact timeline for the winding-down process of the business. It said its vendors and suppliers will continue to be paid on “normal terms,” and that employees will be updated as decisions are made about when specific locations will close. - CNBC

Ascena also owns Ann Taylor and Loft stores. Those stores are safe, for now.

 

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