Stein Mart to close all 279 stores, including only LI location

Stein Mart will close all 279 of its stores, including the only location on Long Island, as part of the off-price retailer’s bankruptcy.

Stein Mart opened its Commack store at 210 E. Jericho Turnpike, in the Mayfair Shopping Center, in 2015.  The 31,000-square-foot store and a Best Market grocery store are the two anchors in the 221,766-square-foot shopping center.

On Wednesday, Jacksonville, Florida-based  Stein Mart Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it would "close a significant portion, if not all, of its brick-and-mortar stores."

On Thursday, Hilco Merchant Resources, a Northbrook, Illinois-based company that is part of a joint venture managing Stein Mart’s going-out-of-business sales, said in a statement that the 279 stores in 30 states will close.

“New merchandise arriving in stores, as well as customers’ favorite familiar brands, are deeply discounted and will sell out quickly at these low prices,” a spokesperson for the joint venture said in a statement.  

Founded in 1908, Stein Mart sells name-brand clothing, shoes, accessories and home décor items at up to 60% off department store prices, the retailer says.

The chain cited the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the major factors in its bankruptcy filing.

“The combined effects of a challenging retail environment coupled with the impact of the ... pandemic have caused significant financial distress on our business. The company has determined that the best strategy to maximize value will be a liquidation of its assets pursuant to an organized going out of business sale,” Hunt Hawkins, chief executive officer of Stein Mart, said in a statement Wednesday.