Discount chain Payless enters bankruptcy, will close 400 stores

New York

PAYLESS Inc, the discount shoe seller, filed for bankruptcy with a plan to slash debt by almost 50 per cent as the retail spiral persists.

Payless listed liabilities of US$1 billion to US$10 billion in Chapter 11 documents filed Tuesday in St Louis bankruptcy court. The chain said in a statement that its restructuring proposal has the support of investors holding about two-thirds of its first-lien and second-lien term debt. The agreement, if carried out, will reduce interest costs and give the company access to capital, according to the statement.