Onetime mall favorite Express files for bankruptcy as its officewear crashes into the hybrid-work world

Closing sales at these locations are set to begin Tuesday. Beyond these closures, Express said that it “expects to conduct business as usual.”

The chain, which also owns the Bonobos brand, listed $1.2 billion in liabilities and $1.3 billion in assets. 

Also on Monday, Express announced it received a non-binding letter of intent from WHP Group, mall operator Simon Property Group, and Brookfield Properties to purchase most of its stores and operations. Express said the bankruptcy filing would “facilitate the sale process.”

The company said that it had received a commitment for $35 million in new financing, which is subject to court approval, from some existing lenders. That would add to the $49 million in cash that Express obtained earlier this month from the Internal Revenue Service related to the pandemic-era CARES Act.

In a prepared statement, Express CEO Stewart Glendinning said that WHP “has been a strong partner” of the company since 2023 — and that the proposed sale would give Express additional financial resources and “better position the business for profitable growth” while maximizing value for stakeholders.

According to Express’ website, the company currently operates about 530 Express retail and Express Factory Outlet stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, in addition to roughly 60 Bonobos Guideshop locations, 12 UpWest stores as well as online operations for these brands.

The retailer has been struggling for some time as the persistence of remote work made its brand of office- and going-out wear less relevant, noted Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData.

“With the company struggling to gain traction with consumers, it has been obvious for quite some time that bankruptcy was the inevitable destination for Express,” he said in a note.

What’s more, he wrote, the casualization of fashion “puts Express firmly on the wrong side of trends and, in our view, the chain made too little effort to adapt.”

Express’ sales in the most recent quarter were down nearly 10% from 2019, even as consumer spending has boomed and apparel as a category has remained strong. In March, Express was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after its share price fell below a dollar.

Glendinning told investors on a recent call that the company had made “missteps” and that its lineup was “out of balance across categories, price points and wearing occasions,” according to Modern Retail. In Saunders’ words, the selection was “overpriced, lacks differentiation, and comes across as very bland,” and shoppers were willing to forgo it.

Express faced growing competition from the likes of fast-fashion retailers Shein and Temu as well as from higher-end brands. The company, in many ways, “is the archetypal middle-market mass retailer that consumers are increasingly willing to either cut out of the portfolio of stores they visit, or buy less from, as they look to save money,” Saunders wrote.

Express is just the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy this year, after Joann and 99 Cents Only.