Hancock Fabrics declares bankruptcy; all stores to close

Hancock Fabrics LLC soon will close the doors of all its stores nationwide, including the Cape Girardeau location.

Sale of the assets of Hancock Fabrics was confirmed in bankruptcy court Thursday. The assets were sold to Great American Group, a liquidation company.

A news release issued Friday from B. Riley & Co., of which Great American Group is a subsidiary, confirms going-out-of-business sales began Saturday for 185 Hancock Fabrics stores.

In an email, Kelly Phillips, senior marketing manager of B. Riley & Co., said Great American Group was hired as part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process to liquidate the assets in all Hancock Fabric stores throughout the country.

“Hancock Fabrics is going out of business completely,” Phillips said. “We will not be involved with any future retail venue that might open up in the space.”

A closing date for the store has not been determined. Phillips said the liquidation process will last until mid-July, “depending on the sales rate and amount of existing inventory in the store.”

“Our team has worked closely with Hancock Fabrics in a range of capacities over the years,” Scott Carpenter, president of Great American Group’s Retail Solutions division, said in the news release. “Now our task will be discounting all of the merchandise in the stores until it is completely liquidated. We expect the going-out-of-business sales to last several weeks before all of the merchandise is sold in the remaining locations.”

In February, Hancock Fabrics filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and closed 70 stores in a restructuring effort. At that time, the Cape Girardeau location was to remain open.

The Southeast Missourian contacted the Cape Girardeau store for comment and was referred to the corporate office.

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

210 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.