You may know them as Bon-Ton, the Boston Store, Elder-Beerman, or Younkers, but now you probably know them by the same name as many other mall anchor stores:
Bankrupt.
With the recent announcement that the winning bid for Bon-Ton Stores Inc. in a bankruptcy auction went to liquidation companies Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group, Bon-Ton, no matter what you call it, will be closing soon.
That means employees in Bon-Ton’s area stores in Greensburg, Washington, Uniontown, Indiana, Oil City, Warren, DuBois, Indiana and Johnstown will be losing their jobs, joining others in the company’s 260 stores primarily in the Northeast and Midwest.
A Growing Trend?
Bon-Ton's closing follows in the recent trend of bankruptcy filings by Toys R Us, Claire's and Nine West along with store closings by Sears, Penney's and Kmart.
The increased demand for online purchases has caused a serious decline of sales in brick and mortar stores. Ironically, the United States Supreme Court is considering a case that would allow online stores to collect sales tax on purchases without needing to have a physical presence in the state.
Liquidation sales are expected to begin quickly at the Bon-Ton locations. That means if you have gift cards for Bon-Ton, get to the store quickly and use them. The liquidators have stated they will honor gift cards for only 10 days after the start of the going out of business sales.
If you have purchased warranties for any products you may have purchased at Bon-Ton, you are out of luck. Those warranties now have no value.
It is recommended that you do not wait to redeem the gift cards hoping to see giant markdowns. Industry analysts say, with the liquidators looking to turn a profit, don’t expect any discounts to exceed 30 percent of the original price.
The liquidation sales are expected to begin soon and last 10 to 12 weeks.