payless closing canada

Payless is closing all of its stores in Canada

The discount shoe retailer known for asking "doesn't it feel good to pay less?" is answering its own question this week with a resounding "no" as it files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Payless announced late Monday that it would be shutting down all 2,500 of its stores across North America this spring. This includes all 248 of its stores in Canada, which together employ roughly 2,400 people.

Founded in 1956, the famously low-priced footwear store had grown in recent decades to become one of the largest brands of its kind. Rumours of its demise have been swirling since 2017, however, when the company filed for bankruptcy protection and closed 400 stores in the U.S.

Things do not appear to have improved for Payless, which said in Monday's bankruptcy filing that it now owes approximately $470 million to creditors.

"The challenges facing retailers today are well documented, and unfortunately Payless emerged from its prior reorganization ill-equipped to survive in today's retail environment," said the company's chief restructuring officer Stephen Marotta in a statement this week.

Payless will begin shuttering stores continent-wide in March, and expects to have all 2,500 closed by the end of May.

The Topeka, Kansas-based chain shut down online sales via its website immediately, but says it could start liquidating its remaining assets as soon as this Sunday.

Gift cards will only be honoured until March 11, according to Forbes, so get to shopping and pay your last respects to the OGs of BOGO.

Lead photo by

Bargain Moose


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in Fashion & Style

Model says she doesn't feel safe wearing fancy clothes in Toronto anymore

Toronto neighbourhood is doing a late night vintage store crawl

Here's what you should do with your solar eclipse glasses now that it's over

People applaud IKEA Canada for trying to end tax on second-hand items

Toronto's most anticipated fashion event of the year is returning next month

One of Toronto's most prominent intersections is getting some big changes

5 places in Toronto you can still get glasses for the 2024 Solar Eclipse

Honest Ed's reopening one block from old location in Toronto