The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., which has corporate headquarters in Milwaukee and York, Pa., announced Wednesday that it will close its Elder-Beerman stores in the Huntington Mall in Huntington, West Virginia and the Lima Mall in Lima, Ohio.
The company said it will not renew leases at those stores, which will end on Jan. 31, 2016.
The company also announced that it will close it Bon-Ton store in the Carousel Center in Syracuse, New York upon its scheduled Feb. 28, 2016 lease termination.
The closure of the three stores will result in the loss of 152 jobs.
“We actively review our store portfolio to ensure efficient asset utilization,” said Kathryn Bufano, president and chief executive officer of Bon-Ton. “While decisions to close stores are not taken lightly, closings are part of ongoing real estate initiatives in which we strategically conclude operations at underperforming locations, enabling us to redirect capital into more profitable and productive assets. As a result of our performance reviews, we felt it prudent to close the aforementioned stores. We are very grateful for the dedicated Huntington, Lima and Carousel Center store associates and are committed to providing assistance to these associates.”
Bufano became president and CEO of Bon-Ton last year and is trying to turn around the long-struggling company, which has not turned an annual profit since 2010.
The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., operates 270 stores, which includes nine furniture galleries and four clearance centers, in 26 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates.
