Industrial Ride Shop, a large, mall-based skate account, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last Friday.
The retailer, which operates approximately 14 stores in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Oregon, filed paperwork to expedite the closing of several stores, including one store in Oregon and another in New Mexico.
Industrial closed its Paradise Valley Mall store in Arizona on Dec. 5, according to court documents.
The company, based in Arizona, has not yet filed paperwork that lists its top creditors.
The court documents that have been filed give the impression that Industrial is looking to exit underperforming stores and shrink in size rather than shut down. The company is strongest in its home base of Arizona.
Many mall-based retailers have struggled over the past several years, especially those at “B” and “C” malls where traffic has dropped the most. Increasingly, shoppers are turning to online buying, kids are socializing digitally rather than at the mall, and teenagers are spending on experiences rather than stuff.
We have a call into Industrial Owner Doug Butcher to find out more about the filing and his plan for the business.
