On January 20, Wet Seal informed employees at its corporate headquarters that it would be closing the office for good. Michelle Stocker, Vice President and General Counsel, wrote in a letter saying Wet Seal wasn’t able to acquire the necessary capital or identify a strategic partner. The letter continued to say the company would no longer receive further financing for its operations.
All of Wet Seal’s 171 stores will close. This comes two years after the retailer closed two-thirds of its locations and laid off over 3,000 workers. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and their goals at the time were to focused on bolstering its online site and to focus on its best performing stores.
Private-equity firm Versa Capital later bought Wet Seal out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a cash deal worth $7.5 million. At the time, Versa promised that at least 140 stores would remain open. However, Wet Seal’s business was never able to recover.
The news of Wet Seal closing its stores comes after a number of other retailers have closed, including American Apparel and The Limited, which closed all of its stores earlier this month.
