Linens-N-Things No More

Earlier this year, it was announced that Bed, Bath & Beyond competitor Linens-N-Things would be closing 120 stores across the country in an effort to cut costs and save their company from liquidation after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. At that time, the only stores in Houston to be affected by the nationwide closures were the Post Oak location near the Galleria and the location inside the similarly-plagued West Oaks Mall.

However, it would appear that the efforts were too little too late, as Linens-N-Things quietly broke the news last week that all of their stores -- nearly 600 nationwide -- would be closing. Employees were notified of this development by store management on Thursday, October 16th, after a last-ditch attempt to sell the company on the prior day failed and Linens-N-Things was forced to liquidate its remaining stores. The stores are expected to be completely gone by the end of the year.

The ten stores left in the Houston area are currently holding liquidation sales, with items marked down 10% to 30% and the shelves are already becoming bare. Things like bedding and bath accessories are marked down the most, while electronics and home decor have only marked down a modest 10%. We were told, however, that the markdowns will be slashed even further in another week and a half. The stores are no longer accepting coupons or checks; merchandise must be purchased with cash or credit cards only.

Conversations with store employees at the Town & Country Village location this weekend revealed that they had been told up until Wedneday evening that their jobs were secure and the stores would continue to operate as normal. All of that changed on Thursday, however.

Their employees are now faced, like so many others today, with the difficult task of finding a job in a rapidly-shrinking sector of the economy. One associate told Houstonist that retail jobs are increasingly difficult to come by, even with experience at other retail stores. He had ended up at the Town & Country Village location because he couldn't find a position close to his home in Sugar Land, and was worried that he'd now have to drive even further or -- worse -- he wouldn't be able to find another job at all.

Linens-N-Things isn't the only retailer to fall upon hard times. It was announced today that Circuit City is looking to close 150 of its stores nationwide in an attempt to prevent bankruptcy, a move that is eerily similar Linens-N-Things own sad tale. In a city like Houston where these big-box stores dominate the freeways and strip malls, closures hit hard and deep, leaving huge, empty stores like ragged scars on the landscape and countless Houstonians in desperate situations.

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Photo courtesy of Flickr user scottjlowe through a Creative Commons license.