Payless Inc. will reportedly file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and close as many as 500 stores.
Bloomberg reports the shoe retailer had originally eyed at closing as many as 1,000 stores and that the 500 number is one that "may still be in flux."
Bloomberg attributes the news to "people familiar with the matter." It is not immediately known which Payless shoe stores will fall on the closure list.
Payless, a Kansas-based company founded in 1956, joins Sears, K-Mart, Aeropostale, JCPenney, the Limited and American Apparel as retail chains to either fall into financial trouble or announce store closures. Payless employs more than 22,000 people in its 4,000-plus stores worldwide.
In January, Reuters reported that Payless was trying to manage $665 million in debt and was "considering several options."