© 2024 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace
Buffalo, NY 14202

Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
WBFO Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Your NPR Station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

5 local Payless stores to close, as shoe chain files bankruptcy

YouTube.com

Five local Payless stores will be closing, as the shoe chain is the latest to chafe financially because of the continuing consumer shift from in-store shopping to online retailing. Payless ShoeSource has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the company says that means the immediate closing of nearly 400 stores, including five in Erie and Niagara Counties.

They include the Eastern Hills Mall store in Clarence, Eastgate Plaza store on Transit Road in Amherst, the Aurora Village Shopping Center in East Aurora, 5999 South Park Avenue in Hamburg and Mid-City Plaza in North Tonawanda.

The chain, which was founded in 1956, has more than 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries.

More and more, shoppers are shifting their buying online, or going to discount stores to score deals on designer brands. That has hurt traditional retailers, even those like Payless that feature lower prices for their wares.
 

Mark Wozniak, WBFO's local All Things Considered host, has been at WBFO since mid-1978.
The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.
Related Content