Financial woes at the parent company of Bealls department stores have placed the future of its Northeast Texas and other locations in doubt.
Houston-based Stage Stores, Inc., announced today that it plans “to close approximately 90 underperforming stores” from among its four chains: Bealls, Goody’s, Palais Royal and Peebles.
The Bealls chain is the only Stage Stores, Inc., property with locations in Northeast Texas. Cities with Bealls stores in the KETR listening area include Greenville (6834 Wesley St.), Sulphur Springs (1401 Mockingbird Ln. #101), Paris (3512 Lamar Ave.), and Rockwall (469 E. Interstate 30). Bealls also operates locations in Canton, Kaufman, Mineola, Mount Pleasant, Terrell and Hugo, Okla.
The news of the planned closures came during a public conference call discussing the company’s second-quarter economic performance. Stage Stores, Inc., did not provide specifics about which stores would be closed and when. A call to the company headquarters was not immediately returned.
“We were challenged by the impact of a weaker peso and economic softness in parts of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico,” the company said in a statement.
Stage Stores, Inc., reported that during the second quarter of its fiscal year, which ended Aug. 1, its net income was $7 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, compared to $0.35 per diluted share in the prior year.
“Second quarter earnings fell short of our expectation,” President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Glazer said. “The closure of stores should enhance our capital efficiency, deliver higher productivity and be accretive to earnings.”
The stores set for closure currently account for about 4 percent of the company's total sales, Glazer said.
