Fred’s is finished.
The retailer and pharmacy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday and says it plans to liquidate.
Going-out-of-business sales should be completed within the next 60 days. Stores with pharmacies will continue to fill prescriptions.
“Despite our team’s best efforts, we were not able to avoid this outcome,” said Joe Anto, Chief Executive Officer at Fred’s, in a statement. “I want to thank all of our employees for their hard work and continued support of the company as we wind-down our operations.”
Fred’s has been through a series of cascading financial troubles. The chain had 568 stores spread across 15 states in the Southeast earlier this year, but has been shutting down hundreds of stores in an effort to stay solvent. As of a few weeks ago, it was down to 80 locations, but was still unable to make it work.
Fred’s was set to dramatically expand as part of the planned merger of Rite Aid and Walgreens, but those plans failed to come to fruition when that agreement was cancelled amid federal antitrust concerns.
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