A beloved sneaker chain has applied for chapter 11 bankruptcy, so fans are concerned about the future of its stores.
Soleply, known for its high-end brands such as the Yeezy van Kanye West, presented bankrupt in New Jersey on Friday.
Chapter 11 Discharging disbursements available will enable the company to continue to operate while it reorganizes its debts and plans for a return to profitability.
The Premier Sneaker -Retailer currently has six locations in Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
It offers some of the most coveted sneakers, including Nike's Air Jordans, as well as brands such as Stussy, Guess and Fear of God Essentials.
Soleply – who also sells T -shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and hoodies – has a maximum of $ 10 million in debts according to judicial archives.
Sneaker enthusiasts often travel from adjacent states to shop in the Soleply stores.
Loyal customers are now afraid that the stores can close permanently, so that they are left without a local place to buy their favorite brands personally.
Soleply stores sell some of the most coveted sneakers in Nike's, Air Jordan's to Stussy
Soleply is not the only shoe store that is confronted with the current economic climate.
Foot Locker announced last year that it was planning to close 400 of his stores by 2026.
275 of the closures will be under the namesake of the company, while the rest will be Champs sports locations, also owned by Foot Locker.
Sneaker stores have been hit by the inflation that has increased selling prices, while consumers withdraw the expenditure on non-essential articles.
At the same time, it is expensive to make brick and-mortar stores work to compete with e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Temu.
As a result, 2025 is expected to be double the store's spoils of last year.
A Coresight study predicts that more than 15,000 stores will close this year – more than double the 7,000 that were closed last year.
Retail analyst Neil Saunders, however, says that the prospects are not as grim as it seems.
Shame Rapper Kanye West owns sneaker and clothing brand Yeezy
Soleply operates six stores in six states, including Delaware, New Jersey and Rhode Island
“The retail apocalyps is fake news,” Saunders of Global Data told DailyMail.com.
“Although it is true that we see an eruption of store closures, this is mainly because weaker players fall out of the market – because they have not convinced consumers to shop with them.”
“The vast majority of retail trade still goes through physical stores and many successful retailers, such as Walmart, invest heavily in their physical spaces,” he added.
In addition to closures, Coresight predicts that 5,800 physical stores will open throughout the country this year.
