LL Flooring has announced that it will close 94 stores in more than 30 states as it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The company, formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, said that it is nearly $110 million in long-term debt in filings made in Delaware bankruptcy court on Sunday.
The Richmond, Virginia-based company said in the filings that slowing home sales and rising interest rates contributed to slower sales in the home improvement market. The company’s 300 other stores will remain open.
LL Flooring said it will stop accepting gift cards at all of its locations, including the ones that aren’t shuttering, on Sept. 4 as a part of the bankruptcy process, and that gift cards cannot be exchanged for cash. The company said in the filings that it has approximately $131 million in outstanding gift cards.
LL Flooring said in the filings that it has attempted to find a buyer but is willing to solicit offers to close more stores if one cannot be found.
“The company is engaged in discussions with potential buyers of the company, and this process will allow us to evaluate binding bids through a court-supervised process in order to maximize value for all of our stakeholders,” LL Flooring wrote in a letter to its customers. “While this could change, the company currently anticipates closing a sale of the business by end of September if a buyer is identified.”
The company said that it has garnered $130 million in Chapter 11 financing, funded through existing lenders led by Bank of America.
