Traffic flows through Rushmore Crossing.
Women’s apparel retailer Christopher & Banks will close its Rapid City store and more than 400 others nationwide, possibly by the end of February. The store closing process is underway at all locations and merchandise liquidation sales are in progress. Today is the final day customers can redeem gift cards in stores and the last day Friendship Rewards will be valid in stores and online.
Staff at the Rapid City store could not discuss the closure. Rushmore Crossing could not be reached to confirm the store’s closing date. Christopher & Banks stores in Sioux Falls are expected to close by the end of February, according to Sioux Falls Business.
Rapid City has now lost two national women’s retail chain stores at Rushmore Crossing. Dress Barn closed its stores in 2019. Both stores catered to women who needed office-appropriate wardrobes as well as casual wear.
Christopher & Banks announced Jan. 14 it filed for bankruptcy protection, and the chain announced its store closures on its Facebook page Jan. 19. With the shift toward working from home, buying clothing suitable for office attire has fallen out of fashion as consumers move toward comfortable, relaxed attire. Christopher & Banks reported in its most recent earnings statement that the pandemic had disrupted the shopping habits of women who shop at stores that sell more formal attire.
The company is the latest victim “of the retail apocalypse that was first created by a customer migration away from brick-and-mortar stores and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic,” President and Chief Executive Keri Jones said in court papers.
