⁍ Ascena Retail Group, the owner of Ann Taylor and other clothing brands, has filed for bankruptcy.

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⁍ It’s the latest retailer forced to take that step during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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⁍ As of August 3, 2019, the end of its last fiscal year, the company had about 53,000 employees, 40,000 of whom worked part-time.

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– The chain that owns Ann Taylor has filed for bankruptcy, CNN reports. Ascena Retail Group, which also owns Lane Bryant, LOFT, Catherines, and Dressbarn, says it will close all of its Catherines stores, a “significant” number of Justice stores, and a small number of Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lane Bryant, and Lou & Grey stores. The company says 95% of its stores are now open. Ascena has been struggling with huge debt and struggling sales since it bought Ann Taylor and LOFT in 2015. The company says it reached a deal with its creditors to reduce its debt by $1 billion, and it received $150 million in new capital to continue operating during its bankruptcy. “The meaningful progress we have made driving sustainable growth, improving our operating margins, and strengthening our financial foundation has been severely disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Carrie Teffner, interim executive chair of Ascena. “As a result, we took a strategic step forward today to protect the future of the business for all of our stakeholders.”