National retailer with 23 stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania abruptly closing all locations

Another large domino in the world of retail is about to fall.

So far, 2024 has been an absolutely brutal year for retail businesses.

Rite Aid's troubles have snowballed and that chain has closed countless locations across the region — with more to come.

Family Dollar has announced that some 600 of its stores will be shutting down in the near future.

Macy's will be closing dozens of stores.

The chain of Express clothing stores, typically found in malls, is about to shrink as it goes through bankruptcy.

Within the past few days, it was announced that Sam Ash music stores will be going out of business after 100 years of selling all things musical.

And now, yet another chain is about to fade into history.

Rue21 is Going Out of Business

Published reports now say Rue21, a chain of stores that sells trendy clothing and accessories for teenagers, will be closing all 541 of its stores within the next month or so after it filed for bankruptcy for the third time.

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Axios reports the brand first filed for financial protection in 2002. It then filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2017 and closed around 400 of its nearly 1,200 stores.

Rue21, with nearly 5,000 employees across the country, finds itself in about $200 million of debt.

CNN, citing a court filing, quotes interim CEO Michele Pascoe as saying the chain was "negatively impacted by challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic and related adverse market trends, including a shift in consumer shopping patterns from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to online retailers and changing consumer preferences."

The brand also seems to have fallen out of favor with the age group that they depend on the most.

Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at GlobalData Retail, told CNN that Rue21's downfall was its "growing irrelevance of the brand to teen consumers."

Rue21 Closing NJ, PA Stores

Rue21 has two stores in New Jersey — Vineland and Moorestown; they have 21 stores across the Keystone State. Regionally, there are three in Delaware and ten in New York.