NILES — The Niles Payless ShoeSource will be among the stores shutting down after the corporation announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Feb. 18.

Lauren Jeffords, the senior director of communications for Payless, confirmed that the Payless in Niles, located at 2706 S. 11^th St. will close. In an email Tuesday, Jeffords said she does not yet have a timeframe for the closure.

In a press release, officials said Payless and its North American subsidiaries have voluntarily filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Certain Payless Canadian subsidiaries will also be seeking protection pursuant to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Payless intends to use these proceedings to facilitate a wind-down of its approximately 2,500 store locations in North America and its e-commerce operations. The company expects that Payless store closings will begin at the end of March and many stores will remain open through the end of May, as it conducts liquidation sales in the U.S. and Canada. Payless has also wound down its e-commerce operations.

Stephen Marotta, appointed in January 2019 to serve as chief restructuring officer of Payless,  said the corporation has faced a number of challenges.

“We have worked diligently with our suppliers and other partners to best position Payless for the future amidst significant structural, operational and market challenges,” Marotta said.  “Despite these efforts, we now must wind down our North American retail operations under Chapter 11 and the CCAA. However, Payless’ profitable stores throughout Latin America, which are not part of today’s filing, and our international franchisees’ stores will continue to operate business as usual in every respect. As we move through the process, we will work to minimize the impact on our employees, customers, vendors and other stakeholders.”

Marotta said the challenges facing retailers today are well documented.

“And unfortunately, Payless emerged from its prior reorganization ill-equipped to survive in today’s retail environment,” he said. “The prior proceedings left the company with too much remaining debt, too large a store footprint and a yet-to-be realized systems and corporate overhead structure consolidation. As a consequence, despite our substantial efforts, we were ultimately unable to operate the North American retail and e-commerce operations on a sustainable basis.”

Payless ShoeSource will provide a more detailed update on plans for the orderly wind-down of its North American retail operations, including store closing sales, as the court-supervised process progresses.

Founded in 1956, Payless serves millions of customers through its extensive global network spanning 36 countries worldwide. Payless has 420 stores in Latin America, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Saipan, and 370 international franchise stores across the Middle East, India, Indonesia, Indochina, Philippines and Africa.

Marotta thanked customers and employees for supporting the business.

“On behalf of the entire company, I’d like to express our deep appreciation for the hard work of our dedicated employees and their commitment to Payless customers, who have shown us tremendous loyalty for more than 60 years,” he said. “We are also grateful for the many years of support by our suppliers and vendors, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to support our remaining operations.”

Payless is seeking customary initial relief from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and Canadian Court, including authorization to support its operations during the process, authorization to continue payment of employee wages and maintain healthcare benefits and certain other relief customary in these circumstances. The company is seeking authorization from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to continue to honor customer gift cards and store credit until March 11, 2019, and to continue to allow returns and exchanges of applicable non-final sale purchases made prior to Feb. 17 until March 1. A similar request will be made in the Canadian Court. Payless has discontinued its Rewards programs and any outstanding merchandise coupons in North America, effective immediately.

Additional information regarding Payless’ Chapter 11 filing is available at payless.com/restructure. Questions should be directed to the company’s claims agent, Prime Clerk, at +1 917-877-5967 (toll) or +1 844-339-4268 (U.S. / Canada toll-free) or by email to pssinfo@primeclerk.com.