An Alco store in Vermilion, Ohio (Photo credit: wikimediacommons.org)
DALLAS (AP) — Small-town discount retailer Alco Stores will close after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas approved an order by the company's creditors to shutter its stores. The court order Thursday follows the company's announcement last month that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Alco, based in the Dallas suburb of Coppell, said at the time that it intended to stay in business while reorganizing. The company was established in Kansas in 1901 and grew to operate 198 stores in 23 states in the central U.S. It sells home furnishings, outdoor products, electronics, sporting goods and clothing. Alco had $474 million in net sales in its latest fiscal year. That was a 2 percent decline from the year before. The company last year moved its headquarters from Abilene, Kansas to Texas.