Another womenswear retailer bites the dust.
Joyce Leslie, a New Jersey-based chain of stores selling cheap, trendy threads and accessories to teens and young women, has filed for Chapter 11 in a White Plains, New York-based bankruptcy court.
Court papers said that the 69-year-old retailer, which has 47 locations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, lacks the “sophisticated e-commerce platform” required to succeed in today’s hypercompetitive market, The New York Post reported Monday.
The family-owned business is looking to find a buyer, but plans to begin liquidation sales early next month if its attempts aren’t successful.
Founded in Brooklyn in 1945, Joyce Leslie initially hawked hosiery and undergarments, but switched to selling fashion-forward women’s apparel in the early ’70s. Media reports said the retailer’s sales slipped in recent years, falling from $104 million in fiscal 2012 to $98 million the following year.
The filing said it expects sales for fiscal 2016 to total $63 million.
Joyce Leslie is the latest teen retailer to fall victim to such fast-fashion chains as Forever 21 and H&M. Wet Seal filed Chapter 11 last January, while Delia’s emerged from bankruptcy as an online-only business in August.