The shoestring broke

If you have a pair of mauve canvas espadrilles that need to be returned to Payless, you should get there as soon as you can.

This week, Payless ShoeSource, a company that's been shoeing us all since 1956, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and this is it. They mean business this time, which is to say they mean no more business because they are pulling down the chainlink doors for good on all their stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Two years ago, Payless cut a deal to lower debts and close their struggling stores, and they seemed to come out of bankruptcy with both feet on the ground.

The reorganization left them with 2,500 locations in the U.S. and Canada. But even that wasn't enough.

We've seen this with so many retailers: liquidation sales and the gradual closing of the stores, and the loss of thousands of jobs. By the end of March, some of the stores will be shuttered, and they will all be gone by Memorial Day.

“The challenges facing retailers today are well documented, and unfortunately Payless emerged from its prior reorganization ill-equipped to survive in today’s retail environment," Payless chief restructuring officer Stephen Marotta said in a statement. "The prior proceedings left the company with too much remaining debt, too large a store footprint and a yet-to-be realized systems and corporate overhead structure consolidation."

If you have a gift card, use it before March 11, they said.

Or you can always go to one of three dozen other countries where 420 company-owned stores and 370 international franchisee stores will remain open. It's the perfect excuse for a getaway to scenic Bora Bora.

Experts are blaming the closing of Payless on the problems all mall stores have these days: declining foot traffic (got to love the irony there), digital competition and the changing tastes of shoppers.

And maybe it didn't help that as their business was getting run down at the heels, they still found time to play games with customers, pretending to be a swanky store. Ha ha. That will give the bosses something to laugh about soon, huh?

I'm hardly a fashionable shopper. I buy wool sox that last forever, shoes from the Rockport Outlet, pants from LL Bean and T shirts from Walmart. 


But there was a certain bit of fun in parading down the aisles at a shoe store, taking care not to trip over the 47 boxes and shoes tossed on the floor by prior customers, and parking my carcass on a bench to pull on a pair of Weejuns.

You don't get that when you buy shoes by mail order, although the letter carrier will often wait while you try on your new shoes and walk around the truck to see what he or she thinks.