Saipan’s Payless unaffected by bankruptcy filing

The Saipan store of Payless ShoeSource will remain open and is not affected by the discount shoe store’s decision to file for Chapter 11. Payless will be closing more than 2,500 branches in North America. (Jon Perez)

The Saipan branch of Payless ShoeSource is among the retail stores that are not affected by the decision of its parent company to close more than 2,500 shops in North America. The company filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code last week.

The discount shoe store, in a statement sent to Saipan Tribune by Payless Communications director Lauren Jeffords, filed for Chapter 11 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, with some subsidiaries under Payless Canada also seeking protection “pursuant to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in the Ontario Court of Justice.”

“Payless intends to use these proceedings to facilitate a wind-down of its approximately 2,700 store locations in North America and its e-commerce operations. The company expects that Payless store closings will begin at the end of March and many stores will remain open through the end of May, as it conducts liquidation sales in the U.S. and Canada. Payless has also wound down its e-commerce operations,” said Jeffords in the statement.

Consumers at the North America stores of Payless can get shoes as much as 80-percent off because of its U.S. liquidation sale, where they are selling everything from their current stocks.

Payless Saipan manager Flor Deleon Guerrero said they would remain open to serve their loyal customers in the CNMI. She said that sales have been brisk, especially when they began their “Buy One-Get One” promo last month, where consumers would get the second pair of shoes at half off.

“We have a wide range of affordable shoes in stock and a new shipment has also arrived. So, our customers will have more choices. Our shipment of new shoes arrives every week. We get our shoes direct from the head office in Topeka, Kansas,” Deleon Guerrero told Saipan Tribune.

“We will still be getting our shoes direct from the Payless head office in Kansas, despite the company closing its North American stores. There are no major changes to our operations and the shipment of shoes regularly come in every week.”

One of Payless’ regular customers, Eric Tamiana, said he is relieved that the Saipan store won’t close down after what happened to its parent company. “This is where I buy my shoes. … Payless offers good quality pair of shoes at an affordable price. I’ve been buying shoes here for three years now. This is where I buy the shoes for my family. …My nephews even say that they still use the shoes that I bought for them.”

Payless began its operations on Saipan in 2004 and used to have another branch at the Garapan Commercial District but had to close it down in 2006 due to the bleak economic condition of the CNMI back then.

Payless Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are also not affected by the closure, along with the 420 company-owned stores in 20 countries in Latin America and the 370 international franchise shops in the Middle East, India, Africa, Indochina, and the Philippines.

Saipan’s Payless store in San Jose is open from Mondays to Saturdays, from 10am to 9pm, and from 10am to 8pm every Sunday.