Popular Mall Retailer Declares Bankruptcy – 7 Louisiana Locations

In cities like Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport, and Lafayette they were not only places to get the items you needed for your family, they were a social nerve center of the community. Now, in many communities, they are just a shell of their former selves. Many of them closed, repurposed, or are struggling to hang on from month to month.

Of course, we are speaking of the brick-and-mortar "shopping mall". What was once a cultural center for life in the 80s and 90s is not so much the center of anything anymore. My last adventure inside a shopping mall was depressing. But that's only because I thought of "what once was" instead of "what this space could become". When you look at it like that, then maybe the future isn't quite so dismal.

It naturally stands to reason that if malls aren't doing well then the retailers who lease space inside them must be going through tough times as well. One of those retailers is Express Inc. It was announced yesterday that the company plans to shutter some 100 locations across its footprint nationwide within the coming months.

The Chapter 11 filing is being done to facilitate a sale of the business to WHP Global, Simon Property Group, and Brookfield Property Group, the latter two being prominent landlords in the retail mall business. Some of the store closures, especially those locations branded to be UpWest stores, will begin this week.

The company operates some 542 locations throughout the country. There are seven affiliated locations in Louisiana. Including Factory Outlet stores in Bossier City, Lake Charles, Gonzales, and New Orleans. Other Express stores are in Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and Metairie, Louisiana.

The final list of what stores will face closure and which stores will remain open does not suggest big changes in Louisiana as of now. Company officials say they will release those details in the coming weeks as legal proceedings move forward.