FORMERLY PE OWNED
Rue21
Includes rue21, rue 21
teen fashion · Warrendale, PA
- PE Firm
- Apax Partners →
- Year Acquired
- 2013
Three bankruptcies in two decades, and the last one shuttered every store with gift cards still in wallets.
What Happened
- Apax Partners bought Rue21 in 2013 for $1.1 billion — four years later the chain was in bankruptcy and its lenders took the keys
- The May 2017 bankruptcy closed roughly 400 stores; the company emerged that September under new hedge fund ownership
- Third bankruptcy in May 2024 — this time, the chain announced liquidation of all 540 remaining stores
- Gift cards became worthless once liquidation hit — customers who'd bought them, sometimes weeks earlier, were left with nothing
The Damage Done
- All 540 stores closed in 2024 — a once-popular teen fashion destination completely eliminated from America's malls
- Gift cards became worthless across three separate bankruptcies — a recurring gut punch to customers and gift-givers
- Thousands of retail workers, many of them teenagers and young adults in their first jobs, lost employment with minimal notice
- Mall foot traffic declined further as another anchor tenant disappeared, accelerating the decline of shopping centers that were already struggling
Sources
- Rue21, a mall staple, files for bankruptcy and will close all of its stores — CNN Business(2024-05-03)
- In its third bankruptcy, Rue21 plans to shutter all locations — Retail Dive(2024-05-02)
- Rue21 bankruptcy: Retailer closing all stores and starting liquidation sales — Axios(2024-05-02)
- U.S. retailer rue21 in search of financing months after exiting bankruptcy: sources — Reuters(2018-02-10)