Elizabethton store among hundreds of rue21 closures

Published 5:07 pm Monday, April 17, 2017

Teen clothing retailer rue21 announced the imminent closure of roughly a third of its stores over the weekend, and the chain’s Elizabethton location is among those that will be shutting down.

According to reports by the Associated Press, the Cranberry, Penn., based clothing retailer is shuttering nearly 400 stores, which will leave rue21 with more than 700 stores in 48 states as well as its online store in operation.

In a statement published on their website, rue21 officials said “It’s true — we are closing some stores. It was a difficult but necessary decision. But the good news is we still have hundreds of locations across the country, and our website rue21.com, open for business.”

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The company did not say how soon stores will be closing, but the company is also promoting store-closing sales through its website.

A person who answered the phone at the Elizabethton store said they were not allowed to provide comments to the media and directed the Elizabethton Star to contact a corporate telephone number. Voice mail messages left at the rue21 corporate offices were not returned as of the Elizabethton Star’s press deadline on Monday night.

The Elizabethton store is located at 163 Hudson Drive, in the West Towne Square shopping center. Signs posted above the entrance to the store and in the windows announced the store’s closing and advertised a store-wide sale.

Several locations in East Tennessee were listed among the sites which the company is closing, including stores in Kingsport, Greeneville, and Knoxville.