The RadioShack store in Racine is one of about 200 stores the electronics retailer plans to close nationwide this month.
An employee at the Racine store, located at 5131 Douglas Ave., said it will close March 28. Four other stores in the area, one in Kenosha and three in the metro Milwaukee area, will remain open, she said.
There are also stores in Oconomowoc, Delavan and Watertown. It’s not clear whether they will remain open.
Fort Worth, Texas-based General Wireless Operations Inc., dba RadioShack, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday in Delaware, the second time it has done so in the past two years. The Chapter 11 filing will allow the company to reorganize and restructure its debts.
A spokesperson for RadioShack could not confirm that the Racine store was closing, or how many employees work there.
In 2015, during the first bankruptcy process, about 1,700 RadioShack stores were closed. In a release on its website about this week’s bankruptcy, RadioShack said it is “evaluating options” on its remaining 1,300 stores to try to gain the greatest creditor value.
The company said it has made progress since the 2015 bankruptcy, and in 2016 reduced operating expenses by 23 percent while partnering with Sprint on mobility. The mobility sales, though, have been “surprisingly poor” of late, which led to the latest filing, said Dene Rogers, RadioShack’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
“We will continue to work with our advisors and stakeholders to preserve as many jobs as possible while maximizing value for our creditors,” Rogers said. “Over the course of the past two years, our talented, dedicated team has worked relentlessly in an effort to revitalize the company and the RadioShack brand, while providing outstanding service to our customers. We greatly appreciate their hard work and dedication.”
