ABILENE, Kan. -- Employees of the 52 Duckwall-Alco discount stores that will close in 10 states will be given preferential treatment as the Kansas-based chain fills new openings, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The company filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, citing a weak rural economy and strong competition.
Duckwall-Alco President Glen Shank said the company plans to increase staffing at the 400-employee corporate office and at the stores that remain open.
'We determined this was the best approach to ensure the health of the entire Duckwall-Alco organization,' Shank said. 'We reviewed the emergence of heavily financed competitors in many of our markets, the setbacks suffered in the economies of rural areas and small towns and the heavy debt structure of the company.'
Company spokesman Dennis McCulloch said the Alco Discount and Duckwall Variety stores employ 5,000 people in the South and Midwest. The stores will close at different times, depending on their size, he said. He said he was unsure how many people would lose their jobs.
Managers will be offered positions in other Alco stores, he said, and laid-off employees will get preferential treatment as openings are filled at the stores that will stay open, he said.
Most of the closings involve stores that Duckwall-Alco has acquired since 1983 from the David's chain in Wichita, the Hornsby chain in Illinois and the Sterling/Magic Mart chain in Arkansas and Mississippi, the company said.
McCulloch said Duckwall-Alco will close 12 of its 43 Kansas stores, including six in Wichita, two in Topeka and one each in Independence, Liberal, Ottawa and Parsons.
Duckwall-Alco also will close eight stores in Arkansas, six in Colorado, seven in Illinois, three in Iowa, five in Mississippi, two in Nebraska, one in New Mexico, seven in Texas and one in Wyoming. McCulloch said stores in Minnesota and South Dakota will remain unaffected by the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
The stores that will close are:
Arkansas: Batesville, Benton, Blytheville, Heber Springs, Mountain Home, Paragould, Pine Bluff, Searcy.
Colorado: Three stores in Colorado Springs, Loveland, two stores in Pueblo.
Illinois: Bradley, McHenry, Morris, Pontiac, Princeton, Woodstock, Yorkville.
Iowa: Boone, Shenandoah, Storm Lake.
Mississippi: Greenville, Grenada, Long Beach, McComb, Pascagoula.
Nebraska: Gering and York.
New Mexico: Clovis
Texas: Brownfield, Dumas, Lamesa, Levelland, Littlefield, Mineral Wells, Vernon.
Wyoming: Green River.
