HOUSTON – Three Houston-area Gander Mountain stores are slated for closing after the company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy.
Gander Mountain said the filing is an important step in its restructuring, but its highest priority was to make it a non-event for consumers.
Recommended Videos
"With much regret, we will be closing our Houston and West Houston stores, among 32 we'll be winding down in the coming weeks," the company said in a statement. "The decision to close these stores was not an easy one, and was made only after an extensive strategic review of our options."
Ten stores in Texas are expected to close. Among those in the Houston area include the Houston, Sugar Land and West Houston stores. Stores in Killeen, Laredo, Lubbock, Round Rock, San Antonio, Texarkana and Waco are also slated for closing.
"A Gander Mountain store generally employs 20-30 full-time people and another 20-30 on a part-time and seasonal basis. Our employees at stores affected by these closings may be considered for employment opportunities elsewhere within our system," Gander Mountain said in a statement. "We have a plan in place for an orderly wind up of our stores and will be carrying it out over the next several weeks. As more is known about how individual employees will be affected by these actions, we’ll communicate that information directly to those employees. General information will be posted at GanderMountain.com as it becomes available."
The company said it is in active discussions with a number of parties interested in a going-concern sale and expects to solicit bids prior to an auction to be held in late April.
Gander Mountain expects to submit the winning bid to the court for approval in early May and anticipates a closing of the sale by May 15, the company said.
"We're grateful for the continued support of our employees, our customers and our trade partners as we move forward with our restructuring," the company said.
Here is the full list of stores slated for closing:
-Alabama (4) -- Gadsden, Mobile, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa
-Georgia (3) -- Augusta, McDonough, Snellville
-Illinois (3) -- Champaign, Algonquin, Springfield
-Indiana (2) -- Merrillville, Greenfield
-Minnesota (3) -- Rogers, Mankato, Woodbury
-New York (1) -- New Hartford
-North Carolina (2) -- Raleigh, South Charlotte
-Tennessee (1) -- Chattanooga
-Texas (10) -- Houston, Killeen, Laredo, Lubbock, Round Rock, San Antonio, Sugar Land, Texarkana, Waco, West Houston
-West Virginia (1) -- Charleston
-Wisconsin (2) -- Eau Claire, Germantown