Beloved fashion retailer and Banana Republic rival abruptly closing nine stores this month after bankruptcy filing

ANOTHER major clothing store has announced it is closing its doors across the country.

Scotch and Soda has been reducing its store fleet over the past couple of months, and more closures are to come.

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The popular fashion brand had 39 stores across the US at the beginning of the month but now is down to just 30.

Recent closures include one location in Charlotte, North Carolinaand others in New York City, Washington D.C.and San Francisco.

Bluestar Alliance, a New York-based brand management company, acquired Scotch and Soda back in March.

The acquisition came just a week after Amsterdam-based Scotch & Soda filed for bankruptcy in the Netherlands.

Christine Peddy, a spokesperson for the company, explained that the stores are being closed with the intention of reopening at a later time.

She noted that the shuttered stores were “underperforming” and added that they were “looking at new locations to add more stores in the near future” in a RetailDive report.

According to Scotch & Soda’s website, the clothing brand still has 246 stores open across the world. However, the store index only counts 226.

On Thursday, Blue Star released a press release outlining future plans for the struggling clothing chain.

The company appointed Anthony Lucia as global president of Scotch & Soda’s U.S. and global business operations.

Lucia’s goal is to “streamline and ensure a smooth transition across the retail footprint and global brand operations.”

The management company also assured that it was “optimizing its business to enable further expansion and profitable growth.”

Before the bankruptcy filing, the fashion store had been pushing to move away from its wholesale business model and expand its brick-and-mortar presence.

Scotch & Soda is not the only brand to succumb to the dreaded ‘retail apocalypse.’

Companies could close up to 90,000 stores in the next five years after 2,000 already shuttered in 2023, a disturbing Wall Street analysis has revealed.

Major chains like Bed Bath & Beyond and Walmart have already closed down thousands of locations.

The future could be rocky for any major business attempting to navigate lingering effects from the pandemic as well as heightened inflation, and changing consumer trends.