Mall mainstay closing hundreds of stores, including one in Vermont

Another clothing retail franchise declares bankruptcy, closing hundreds of shops in its wake.

Rue21, a clothing retailer focused on teen fashion, will be closing all of its stores over the next two months. They have one Vermont location at University Mall in South Burlington

In a Thursday bankruptcy court filing, Rue21 cited continued surge of consumer online shopping, in-person retail locations underperforming and inflation as reasons for the company's recent losses.

The company said in court filings that Rue21 will be having closing and going-out-of-business sales at their stores.

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Has rue21 filed for bankruptcy before?

Twice, in 2003 and in 2017 rue21 filed for bankruptcy.

Store Closings:rue21 files for bankruptcy for the third time, all stores to close

Are rue21 and Forever 21 the same store?

While the names of the stores are similar and they are both often found in malls, there is no affiliation between Forever 21 and Rue 21. They are owned by separate companies.

rue21 was founded in 1970 as Pennsylvania Fashions Inc. In 2003, after filing the first time for bankruptcy, it rebranded to rue21.

Forever 21 was first founded in 1984 as Fashion 21, eventually rebranding. They filed for bankruptcy in 2019, but it still has over 540 stores open.

Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.