(KWES) - Following a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing in June, Hastings Entertainment will close all of their stores by October 31, 2016.
According to court documents, bidding on the company ended July 20 in a Delaware bankruptcy court.
Two financial companies bought Hastings Entertainment in a joint venture to oversee the liquidation of all stores.
Court documents show that the stores will be liquidated using a "store closing," "sale on everything," "going out of business" sale.
The stores may close at any time after they have given employees a seven-day notice.
As we reported in June, the company's debts include $80 million in secured loans and $59 million in trade bills.
According to the store's website and social media, Hastings has stopped accepting customer deposits for future movie purchases, game rentals and store gift cards.
This announcement will affect stores in the Midland/Odessa area and Hobbs, NM, as each city has one store.
We have contacted the stores in Midland and Odessa and both stores had "no comment."
However, Hastings later sent us the following statement: "Five weeks ago, Hastings filed for Chapter 11 protection with the goal of expediting our search for a buyer that would help us complete our remerchandising strategy and position our business for long-term success. At the completion of the sale process yesterday, the winning buyer was a joint venture that will instead oversee a liquidation of our stores to ensure we are maximizing the value of all of our remaining merchandise and assets as we prepare to close. All Hastings stores, our e-Commerce business and our corporate office will all discontinue operations at the end of this process. On Friday, July 22, the Bankruptcy Court is expected to approve our agreement with the companies who will oversee our store closing sales, Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC. We thank our customers and employees for their loyalty over the years, and we hope to see our customers at store closing sales."
No word yet on how many employees will lose their jobs or what dates the individual stores will close.
