SECAUCUS AND BEYOND – Secaucus-based Daffy’s Inc., the 19-store chain selling discount designer brands in the U.S. Northeast, filed for bankruptcy court protection after saying it would shut down because of weak consumer spendingm according to Bloomberg news reports.
The company listed assets of as much as $100 million and debt of as much as $50 million in Chapter 11 documents filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Daffy’s has six stores in New Jersey, eight stores in Manhattan, and one in Philadelphia.
Last month 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.”
The company employs approximately 1,300 people and guaranteed all associates employment with benefits for at least 60 days. The process to close and liquidate all of its merchandise will begin gradually.
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.