History
Through a series of acquisitions the company grew to 793 stores as of July 29, 2017.
In June 1992, Stage Stores, then known as Specialty Retailers, Inc. (SRI), acquired Colorado-based Fashion Bar, Inc., a family-owned business with 71 stores, most of which were comparable to Palais Royal and Bealls. The remainder were small specialty stores known as Stage Stores, which had already become part of SRI's operation.
In 1996, SRI completed the closure of the other Fashion Bar Stores but retained the Stage name. The company purchased the forty-nine stores of Beall-Ladymon, Inc., sold by company president Horace Ladymon. The outlets were located in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi; they were reopened in 1994 under the "Stage" name.[8]
Stage expanded into the Northwest with the acquisition in 1997 of C. R. Anthony Co. and Tri-North stores.
The company acquired Uhlmans in 1996, which brought Stage to Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. All of these newly acquired stores, however, were closed by 2001 when Stage Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Closures as part of the bankruptcy included most of the former Fashion Bar, Milliken's, Tri-North, and Uhlman's stores, as well as an exodus from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota.
In 2003, Stage Stores acquired 136 Peebles stores located in 17 states.
The company purchased the Goody's name through the Goody's bankruptcy auction in 2009. The nameplate was used in markets with a strong customer awareness and brand recognition of the name.[9]
In 2011, Stage Stores began a new chain called Steele's,[10] but in March 2014 it was announced that these stores are being sold to Hilco Global.[11]
Stage Stores acquired the Gordmans' assets in March 2017 after becoming the winning bidder in a bankruptcy sale. The company announced that it planned to run at least 50 stores and one of Gordmans’ distribution centers.[12] Under the direction of Stage Stores, Gordmans began to transition away from the specialty department store business model, moving the brand to the off-price retail sector, more resembling stores like T.J. Maxx, Ross, and Burlington. As part of expanding the brand, Stage Stores opening their first new Gordmans store in Rosenberg, Texas in March, 2018.[13]
In March, 2019, Stage announced that by mid-2020 they planned to convert at least 220 of their current department stores, including those of other brand names, into Gordmans off-price stores. CEO Michael Glazer cited the high sales increases in the locations that were converted in 2018 as the deciding factor in the decision.[14] In September, 2019, Stage Stores announced that they planned to completely exit the department store market, moving completely to the off-price model, converting all other stores brands to the Gordmans brand, and operating approximately 700 Gordmans stores by the third quarter of fiscal 2020 (August-October).[15]
In May 2020, Stage Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, even though the ongoing conversions had resulted in same-store sales rising more than 17% in the November-January fiscal quarter. [16]
