Home improvement chain with hundreds of stores across the US files for bankruptcy – and shuts 94 stores

One of America’s largest flooring suppliers has filed for bankruptcy, the latest in a long line of retailers to find themselves in financial trouble this year.

LL Flooring is closing 94 of its 442 stores across 47 states in a bid to cut costs and make the company more attractive to a buyer.

The retailer, which specializes in hardwood flooring, has struggled with declining sales over the past year as families cut back on home renovations.

In addition to cutting costs as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, LL Flooring executives are also in talks with several potential buyers for the 30-year-old company.

Bosses expect the company to survive and process all existing orders while it reorganizes.

LL Flooring is the latest to open a store this year, with the U.S. losing nearly 8,000 physical locations by the end of 2024.

For example, Macy’s is going to close 150 stores stores – a third of the total – as Dollar Tree closes 1,000 and drugstore Rite Aid is closing nearly 800.

LL Flooring filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Sunday night. Chapter 11 allows companies to continue operating as they figure out how to cut costs and renegotiate with companies they owe money to.

Tom Sullivan founded Lumber Liquidators in 1994 by purchasing surplus lumber from companies and reselling it at a discount.

The company initially did business out of the back of a pickup truck in Stoughton, Massachusetts.

Shortly thereafter, Sullivan began negotiating directly with the factories, seeking to cut out the wholesalers who acted as middlemen and to undercut the competition by charging lower prices.

Sullivan celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2014 and said at the time, “Looking back and seeing how far we’ve come in 20 years is almost a dream.

‘We’ve grown from a small company to one that serves over two million people, and in the process, we’ve changed the way hardwood flooring is sold.

“Our customers know that the value and quality of their floors are unmatched.”

Sullivan left the company in 2017 and has since fallen out with the board, having tried to take over the company but thus far been rebuffed.

In 2020, Lumber Liquidators changed its name to LL Flooring.

LL Flooring’s troubles come amid widespread “retail apocalypse,” with stores struggling with declining foot traffic and increasingly tight margins.

In the first four months of 2024, there were almost 2,600 store closuresIf this trend continues, nearly 8,000 people will have died by the end of the year.

In recent months, Walmart has closed three more of its underperforming locations, while Best Buy closed ten in march.

Dollar stores have also been hit hard: 99 Cents Only announced in April that it would close all 371 of its locations in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada.

The 1,000 closures of Family Dollar and its sister company Dollar Tree will take place over the next three years.

Express, a well-known mall-based retailer, filed for bankruptcy in April and said it would close 95 Express locations, in addition to all of its UpWest stores.

LL Flooring is the largest specialty flooring company in the US

In early May, Rue21, the teen fashion chain that is a fixture in malls across America, also announced that it would close all of its 543 U.S. stores after filing for bankruptcy.

Badcock Home Furniture & More announced in late July that it will close all 380 of its stores across the southern U.S. after the company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

And last week it was announced that Big Lots will close 315 stores in multiple states as its financial problems mount.

The discount home goods chain has identified dozens of locations in states including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire and Vermont that are set to close.