Discount retailer Gordmans, which operates six KC-area stores, files for bankruptcy

Gordmans Stores Inc., the century-old Omaha-based discount department store chain, filed for bankruptcy after posting losses in five of the past six quarters.

The company listed total debt of $131 million in Chapter 11 papers filed Monday in Nebraska.

According to the company's website, Gordmans operates about 100 stores, including six Kansas City-area locations. The company opened a store in the Liberty Commons redevelopment in September.

Gordmans is the latest victim in a retail industry suffering from sluggish mall traffic and a move by shoppers to the internet.

The shift has been especially rough on department stores, including regional chains like Gordmans that once enjoyed strong customer loyalty, but even national concerns like Sears Holdings Corp. and Macy’s Inc. have had to close hundreds of locations to cope with the slump.

Gordmans traces its roots to 1915, when Russian immigrant Sam Richman opened a clothing shop in Omaha, Neb. He later teamed up with a former Bloomingdale’s executive, Dan Gordman, whose car broke down in Omaha en route to California. Gordman met Richman’s daughter while he was waiting for his car to be repaired and decided to stick around. The two later married.

Private equity firm Sun Capital Partners bought the business in 2008 and took it public two years later. Growth slowed in 2014, and losses began to mount. Same-store sales fell more than 9 percent in the most recently reported quarter. The company announced job cuts in January, citing the “sluggish retail environment.”

This story was originally published March 13, 2017 at 7:41 AM with the headline "Discount retailer Gordmans, which operates six KC-area stores, files for bankruptcy."