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Retail chain Pier 1 Imports announced on Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and will follow through on plans to close up to half of its 942 stores.
Pier 1 has locations in north Fresno and Clovis, as well as a Visalia location that was on a list of 145 planned closures announced last year.
The Visalia store is currently liquidating and is scheduled to close March 1, according to an employee reached Monday.
While Pier 1 hasn’t released its latest list of the 450 stores slated to close this year, neither the Fresno or Clovis stores are on a list published by businessinsider.com of stores erased from the Pier 1 website.
Workers at the Fresno and Clovis also confirmed they weren’t liquidating.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based home decor chain also announced it is up for sale. It has receive a commitment of about $256 million in financing to support continued operations through bankruptcy and the sale process.
Pier 1 is closing all of its stores in Canada, and is also closing two distributions centers to reflects its shrinking footprint.
The company — which was founded in California in 1962 — has been trying to revamp its cluttered stores and change its offerings to appeal more to younger customers. But it is struggling to compete with budget-friendly home decor sites like Wayfair.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.