Charlotte Russe closing all 416 stores, including 8 on LI

Women’s clothing retailer Charlotte Russe is closing all its stores, including the eight on Long Island.

The San Francisco-based chain, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, will close its remaining 416 stores by the end of April, it said Thursday.

Going-out-of-business sales start Thursday at stores in 44 states and Puerto Rico, and online sales have ended, according to the company.

“Charlotte Russe established itself over the last four decades as a fashion destination for young women. A sale of this magnitude will bring never-seen-before values to a broad selection of today's best fashion trends,” Aaron Miller, executive vice president of SB360 Capital Partners, said in a statement. SB360 is the Massachusetts company conducting the liquidation sales.

Founded in 1975, Charlotte Russe also targets teen girls with trendy clothes and accessories.

In early February the company said it would close 94 stores, including one at Westfield Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, in six to eight weeks as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

That store is still open.

The other seven Long Island stores are in Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, Westfield South Shore mall in Bay Shore, Tanger Outlets Deer Park, Tanger Outlets Riverhead, Broadway Commons in Hicksville, Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City and Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream.

Charlotte Russe has struggled with online competition and high debt in recent years.

The retailer “suffered from a dramatic decrease in sales and in-store traffic, and their merchandising and marketing strategies failed to connect with their core demographic and outpace the rapidly evolving fashion trends that are fundamental to their success,” according to a court filing in the bankruptcy.

Charlotte Russe’s gross sales decreased from $928 million in fiscal year 2017 to an estimated $795.5 million in fiscal year 2018 — a 14 percent drop.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.