Stage Stores, Inc., based in Houston, Texas, announced May 10 that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Stage is the parent company for a number of department store chains, including Gordmans, formerly Peebles, located at York River Crossing Center in Gloucester. A release from Stage said the company will solicit bids to sell the business, while also initiating “an orderly wind-down of operations.”

A Peebles store opened at Hayes in 1990, and was rebranded and reopened as Gordmans in March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country.

Michael Glazer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stage, said in the release that “This is a very difficult announcement and it was a decision that we reached only after exhausting every possible alternative. Over the last several months, we had been taking significant steps to attempt to strengthen our financial position and find an independent path forward. However, the increasingly challenging market environment was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which required us to temporarily close all of our stores and furlough the vast majority of our associates.Given these conditions, we have been unable to obtain necessary financing and have no choice but to take these actions,” said Glazer.