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Steve & Barry’s plans to liquidate
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Clothing chain Steve and Barry’s plans to liquidate its entire inventory at all 270 locations by early 2009, according to court documents filed last week.
The company made their decision public when they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time last Wednesday.
The New York-based retailer had originally planned to close 103 stores in September and continue operating with a “smaller, more productive store base,” according to a news release. New plans indicate they will be clearing inventory at all their stores.
The liquidation may lead to closing stores, including its three Madison locations at 636 State St. and at both East Towne and West Towne Mall.
A store manager from the company’s East Towne Mall store declined to comment Friday citing a non-disclosure mandate imposed on all Steve and Barry’s employees from the company’s corporate office.
College students account for a large percentage of Steve and Barry’s sales, but many had little knowledge about the company’s inventory liquidation. Prices have been advertised lately to be around 50 percent lower than usual.
“I don’t know much about it,” University of Wisconsin senior Lauren Valentor said. “I had no idea they were liquidating their inventory.”
When asked about the repercussions of Steve and Barry’s liquidation and potential shutdown, most University of Wisconsin students seemed to agree they would miss their cheap prices the most.
“They leave a void in the market for really affordable Wisconsin apparel,” UW senior Andrew Vavoulis said. “There are plenty of places to buy campus clothing, but they are cheap and have a nice selection.”
According to UW senior Irene Alexiu, the absence of a Steve and Barry’s on campus probably would not disadvantage diehard fans as much as it will the average student just looking for something cheap to wear for game day.
“The downside of the whole thing is that if you’re not a super fan but you want to go to a game and you don’t want to buy something for $30 — or if you just wanted to get a shirt for one football or hockey game—you can’t,” Alexiu said.
But some students aren’t after the most affordable UW gear, Vavoulis said. Some are willing to pay a premium for higher-quality clothing.
“Price is an interesting thing because [Steve and Barry’s] is affordable, but there’s always the elitish factor,” Vavoulis said. “Some people don’t want to pay $7 for a T-shirt but want to pay more for something nicer.”
Although there are some students who prefer pricier UW gear, others are not pleased about having to pay more at stores that charge more.
Valentor said she doesn’t believe UW students will realize what they’ve lost because they’ve been taking the store for granted for so long.
“I think that Steve and Barry’s is one of those things that people aren’t going to notice until it’s gone,” Valentor said, “They’ll be like, ‘Jeez, I need to go to Steve and Barry’s.’”
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I graduated from UW just as Steve and Barry’s was getting going. Let me tell you that the loss of the store will leave a huge void for students. UW merch was always crazy expensive before Steve and Barry’s opened and it looks like it’ll go back to being that way. Too bad for students and fans.
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Sad day for clothing and bargin hunters
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An even sadder day for those of us that put our blood, sweat and tears into a company, only to watch Dumb & Dumber put $80 mil a piece into their pockets and then let the company come apart at the seams…