Court filings show that all the Younkers and Bergners stores in Illinois and Iowa will close as part of the sale of their corporate owner to liquidators.
On Wednesday a federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Bon-Ton Stores to a joint venture of two liquidation firms and a group of company bondholders. Court records show the liquidation sales must be completed by August 31st.
Bon-Ton was operating 260 stores in 24 states, largely in the Northeast and Midwest, when it filed for bankruptcy in January. Analysts say that the 160-year-old company, like several other brick-and-mortar retailers in recent years, couldn't survive the shift toward e-commerce.
The closings affect Younkers stores in the Quad Cities - in NorthPark and SouthPark malls, plus nearby cities in eastern Iowa. Bergners stores slated for closing include Galesburg and Sterling plus Quincy and Peoria.
