Jasmine Wright
Vinh Le stands outside Bob's Stores after buying new shoes on July 10.
ANSONIA – Five years after losing its anchor tenant, another store is preparing to close at the Ansonia Shopping Center at 403 — 495 Main St.
Clothing retailer Bob’s Stores is scheduled to close July 14. Gift cards and exchanges will continue to be honored until then.
The Valley Indy could not confirm the number of employees being laid off at the Ansonia location.
The Ansonia store is one of 21 locations closing in New England, according to a bankruptcy announcement from SDI Stores LLC, Bob’s parent company. SDI Stores also owns outdoor retailer Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS).
A Big Y grocery store once anchored the shopping center, which is across Main Street from Target. The Big Y space has sat vacant since about 2019, when the grocery store owners announced a move to Route 34 in Derby.
The Rite Aid, which sits in a stand alone building in the same shopping center and announced it was closing last year, is also shuttered.
Marshall’s, an off-price department store, is now the largest store in the plaza.
Bob’s was in Ansonia for about 30 years.
On Wednesday, bargain hunters braved a heat wave to check out a going out of business sale at Bob’s.
Derby resident Vinh Le was drawn to sale banners plastered in the windows. It’s hard to miss: in nearly every window, signs advertise going-out-of-business sales for 30 to 70 percent off all items.
“I went to Marshall’s, and (my wife) saw that they were closing,” Le said as the pair walked out of the store.
Le said that he’ll miss the store, and that he comes in when he needs to buy new shoes.
“My size is wide, so not many places have it except them,” Le said.
Inside the store, even more sale banners hung from the ceiling while customers filled their carts.
Jasmine Wright
Sale banners cover the inside of Bob's Stores in Ansonia as it prepares to go out of business.
Seymour resident Jan Cormack, who said she comes to Bob’s for holiday and birthday shopping, said she’ll be sad to see the store go.
“They always have UConn stuff,” she said while sifting through hoodies. “We have friends in Illinois, and their nephew went to UConn, so when they win the championship, we send stuff out.”
A few aisles over, fellow Seymour resident Greg Kowal was filling his cart with shoeboxes after a long morning of weed-whacking. The reason for the closing? Prices people can’t afford, he said.
“I’m sorry, I can’t spend 200 dollars on a pair of sneakers,” Kowal said. “Maybe a college kid that’s got rich parents can do that, but I work for a living.”
He added that he comes in occasionally to hunt for discounts, and that he’ll miss the store.
“I’m sorry to see it go, though, really, because they do have a lot of merchandise,” Kowal said.
It’s a rough year for retailers, according to the Connecticut Post and CBS, with Stop & Shop and Big Lots each also recently announcing closures. Stop & Shop has locations in Ansonia and Seymour, while Big Lots has one in Derby. The two linked stories do not mention any closures for these locations.
The owner of the Ansonia Shopping Center did not return a message requesting comment.
Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti said the closing was a sign of the times.
“This is what we have in society now,” Cassetti said. “Everyone wants to do everything online.”
Administration officials have said the landlord is working to get tenants.
Cassetti is still hoping another grocery store will move into the plaza.
“We need a grocer on Main Street, on that street,” Cassetti said. “We need it because the 400 luxury apartments we have are just about full, the other apartments are being built, so we have a lot of foot traffic, and people like to shop locally.”
In the run-up to the bankruptcy filing, Bob’s Stores parent company posted a notice in May that it would be laying off 145 workers at its offices and warehouse in Meriden. The notice, signed by company president David Barton, said that it had run out of funding amid mounting debts.
“The bank has informed us within the last week that it will refuse to fund the employee health insurance premiums, 401K administration, payroll, as well as other critical financial obligations which, if not paid, will likely prevent us from being able to operate the business going forward,” the notice reads.
The bankruptcy filing lists the company’s liabilities at between $50 and $100 million, and its assets at between $10 and $50 million.
The Valley Indy called a listed phone number for Bob’s Stores’ corporate office, but was redirected to a voicemail that could not take messages. Inside the store, a manager said employees were not currently authorized to discuss the closing.
