rue21 in Bemidji Shutters Amid Chain-Wide Bankruptcy Announcement

rue21, a popular teen clothing chain, announced on Friday that it had filed for bankruptcy and that it was closing all of its stores, including the one at the Paul Bunyan Mall in Bemidji.

Employees of rue21 went home after a long day at work and were met with the shocking announcement that by the end of May, they would no longer be employed at rue21, due to the company filing for bankruptcy and announcing they were closing all 540 stores in the United States. That includes seven in Minnesota and one in Bemidji.

“It’s honestly heartbreaking, especially for us workers, us losing our income, health insurance, you know, our team members,” said Jyha Immonen, the store manager of rue21 in Bemidji. “It really hurt us.”

The managers say that the company wasn’t being forthcoming about the news that was about to be announced.

“So that Monday, we had a conference call that basically said ‘Everything was good, everything’s fine, you don’t have to worry about any stores closing,'” stated Immonen. “The store’s inventories were going down, they were having us do all these transfers that just didn’t make sense, like a lot of product. And then that Thursday morning, all of the district managers were fired, most of the corporate office, they sent them a three-minute video and just told them that they don’t have their jobs anymore. Four days later, we get a notice that we’re bankrupt.”

And the email that was sent to all rue21 stores informing managers and employees of the bankruptcy was less than 100 words in total.

“Thursday morning we got an email, a couple sentences, maybe a paragraph at most, that we were going into bankruptcy and that was it,” Immonen explained. “Didn’t hear anything else from them. It just went silent. I wish they would have just communicated because it would have been a lot easier. Could have broken the news to my team a lot easier, but just hiding all of this information is just not okay.”

And for many of what will be former employees of rue21, they are just scared of what’s to come.

“I’m sad. I’m supposed to get married in September. I just purchased a house and now my entire income and world just came crashing down within the span of four or five days.” said assistant store manager Alex Polchow. “I need to provide for me and my future husband. And we could have been spending this time searching for new employment if they informed us about anything, but the fact that they were just quiet about it and secretive sounds manipulative and toxic.”

Instead of selling the remaining stock over the next four of six weeks, though, employees and managers of the Rue21 at the Paul Bunyan Mall said Monday, May 6 was the last day for the store because they aren’t even sure if they will be paid for their remaining time at the job.

“We are just surviving our last day here. We are leaving, as we have found out from other store managers that checks are bouncing,” added Jyha. “And what’s the point – if we’re not going to get paid, why be here?”

“They sent the liquidators over and they’re like, ‘We’re so glad that you’re representing the company.’ And we’re like, ‘What company?’ It’s gone. There’s nothing.” asserted Alex, “And they won’t represent us, so we will not represent them.”

Over the last several months, other retailers have closed some of their stores. Macy’s has closed 150 stores across the US, and clothing chain Express also filed for bankruptcy and closed 100 stores. And places like Bed, Bath and Beyond and Best Buy have closed several stores to focus on online sales.