Apparel Chain Permanently Closing All Missouri & Illinois Stores

This teen apparel chain used to be in malls everywhere and many Missouri and Illinois stores have survived - until now. The company has just announced they are bankrupt and will be permanently closing all of their Missouri and Illinois stores.

I saw this sad news shared by CNN about once-popular teen apparel giant Rue21. The press release says that all 540 stores will now begin the process of closing including every single store in Missouri and Illinois.

This will reportedly affect more than 4,900 employees some of which have been notified that they have been let go already.

The bankruptcy reportedly came about due to $200 million dollars in debt which was more than the company could overcome.

The closing process of all the Missouri and Illinois Rue21 stores will apparently take place over the next 4 to 6 weeks with going out of business sales as the stores sell off remaining inventory.

I can't remember a mall I went to back in the 1980's and 90's that didn't have a Rue21 inside with their specialty being trendy clothes. That era is obviously over now and we can only hope that the 4,900 affected employees land on their feet with good jobs once the closures are complete.