The women’s retailer Dressbarn clothing chain is set to close down its operations as the company is one the way to close down all of its stores, announced the company.

The company however did not provide any timeline for the closing down of the about 650 of its stores. the company would however continue to  be open for business for the time being – which would include its website sale channel, said the company in a statement. It further said that return, refund, or gift-card policies or its loyalty-rewards programs would not be affected by any change in the closure of its stores.

“This decision was difficult, but necessary, as the Dressbarn chain has not been operating at an acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment,” Steven Taylor, the company’s chief financial officer, said in the statement.

“During the wind down process, we will continue to provide our customers with the same great experience both in-store and online, offering them even better deals and value,” he continued. “We will work to assist our associates through the transition and maintain existing relationships with our vendors, suppliers, and other key stakeholders through this process.”

The business operations of the rest of the brands of the Ascena Retail Group the parent company of Dressbarn, would continue as usual and would not be impacted in any way by its decision to shut down operations of Dressbarn. The company owns other popular brands such as Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, Catherines, and Justice.

“Dressbarn’s wind down is another significant step taken to advance Ascena’s ongoing transformation,” the company said in a separate statement. “This move is in line with the Company’s commitment to comprehensively assess and optimize its portfolio by focusing resources on its most profitable brands to position the business for long-term growth and enhance shareholder value.”

There has been a string of companies and retailers in the United States and elsewhere which closed down a large number of their brick-and-mortar stores that used to be shopping mall staples and Dressbarn’s closure news is the latest among those closures. For example, the liquidation process for Payless ShoeSource was initiated in February this year as the company also prepares to close down all of its 2,100 stores in the US. And just some time before the announcement by Payless ShoeSource, an announcement of closure of all of its 500 locations was made by Charlotte Russe which is a clothing store chain targeted at teens and young adults.

And even though it is not winding up all of its operations, L Brands, Inc – the parent company of Victoria’s Secret, announced earlier this year that it would be pulling down the shutters of 53 of its 1,143 Victoria’s Secret and PINK stores in the US. The series of closures of brick and mortar stores clearly indicate the advent and proliferation of a period where in such physical stores and outlets are struggling to attract customers against the backdrop of the popularity of the online sale channels and the large global chains such as Target and Walmart in the US.

(Adapted from Today.com)