EJ’s Shoes Inc., which operates 15 stores in the Midwest, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in St. Louis in a bid to restructure its debts. The company, which has about $30 million in revenue, plans to stay open during the bankruptcy proceedings and hopes to emerge in four or five months. According to the bankruptcy filing, the company has assets of between $500,000 and $1 million and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million.

 

“The
restructuring will enable EJ Shoes which operates in Missouri,
California, Texas
and Arizona
to continue to conduct business in its strongest retail locations while it
renegotiates or drops leases in several others,” the company said in a
statement.

 

EJ's
Shoes' attorney Nick Franke told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
that the 40-year-old, family-run chain has seen sales slump for the past two years.


“That
store just wasn't making it,” Franke said. E.J.'s may also close a couple
of stores and trim its spending, he said. E.J.'s main lender – Commerce Bank –
had agreed to keep financing the company.


The company's banners inlude EJ's Designer Shoe Outlet, E&J's Designer
Shoe Outlet, and Shoe Cents stores.