Modell’s Sporting Goods is renegotiating leases in a last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy.
The 130-year-old retailer, which has more than 150 locations across 10 states, sent letters to 19 landlords pleading with them to “dig deeper” so the retailer can avoid filing for bankruptcy March 1, the New York Post reported.
So far pledges of help have come from owners of buildings where five stores have launched liquidation sales. More than 2,900 jobs depend on the retailer avoiding bankruptcy.
“These people are counting on me; some have been with me for 40 years,” Mitch Modell, who is the retailer’s fourth-generation leader, wrote in a letter to landlords, according to the Post.
It is the latest effort by Modell to save his family business. Last May, The Real Deal reported that the retailer was trying smaller concept stores — between 5,000 square feet and 8,000 square feet. The plan was to roll out in 10 locations across New York.
Earlier in 2019, Modell’s listed its 300,000-square-foot Bronx warehouse for $100 million. [NYP] — David Jeans