SECAUCUS AND BEYOND – Secaucus-based Daffy’s Inc., a discount designer brand chain, announced Monday that it will close its 19 stores over the next several months, according to news reports. The company employs approximately 1,300 people and has six stores in New Jersey, eight stores in Manhattan, and one in Philadelphia. The process to close and liquidate all of its merchandise will begin gradually. All associates will remain employed with benefits for at least 60 days.
The company said in a statement to the press, “This action was necessary due to the impact on its business of the uncertain economy and weak consumer spending and a lack of viable financial and business alternatives.”
This is the second Secaucus off-price retailer to close its doors within the past year following in the footsteps of off-price men’s clothing store Syms along with sister company Filene’s Basement, which both closed at the start of the new year after filing for bankruptcy in November.
Daffy’s was founded in 1961 by the late Irving Schulman in Elizabeth, N.J., just a couple of years after Syms opened its shop in lower Manhattan in 1959.
The poor economy and competition from the “big box” department stores has been blamed for the decline of the discount stores. Sears and Kmart stores, both of which also have long histories and which have had to compete with popular “big box” stores like Target, have slated 100 stores for closing this year.