Modell’s, a sporting goods chain, will close in Bethesda and Germantown as part of a companywide shutdown of all 153 stores and bankruptcy filing on Wednesday.
Modell’s, which sells sports apparel, shoes, accessories and other gear specific to certain sports teams, will begin liquidation sales and will continue selling goods online.
The Bethesda store is at 7201 Wisconsin Ave. and the Germantown store is at 20999-B Frederick Road.
Many items were discounted in the Bethesda store Thursday afternoon, including baseball caps honoring the Washington Nationals’ 2019 World Series championship, which were $15 each. Some items were discounted as much as 60%.
Joe Alliata, the manager of the Bethesda store, said Thursday that he found out this week the store would be going out of business. He said he has enjoyed working at the store the past year.
“It’s been pretty much OK. It’s not a bad company to work for. These things happen,” he said.
Alliata said the store has generated a good amount of business at times recently, particularly when the Nationals won the World Series last year and the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Alliata said the store is shifting into clearance mode, but the exact date for the store’s closing remains undetermined.
Representatives from the Germantown store also did not know the closing date of their store.
Tami Mohney, a spokeswoman for Modell’s, wrote in an email Thursday that there are 20 to 25 employees in the Bethesda store and 10 to 15 in the Germantown store at any given time.
All employees will be paid a severance according to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with a labor union.
“Unfortunately, all jobs will be eliminated upon store closure. An exact store closure date has not yet been determined,” she wrote.
Modell’s was founded in 1889 and considers itself one of the oldest family owned and operated retailers of sporting goods. There are stores in 10 states and Washington, D.C.
In Wednesday’s press release, Modell’s announced that it had filed for bankruptcy in a New Jersey court under Chapter 11, which allows the company to operate the business in the short term and pay employees wages and benefits.
Chief Executive Officer Mitchell Modell said in the press release that the company had “several options to restructure” the business in a way that would allow it to keep operating.
“While we achieved some success, in partnership with our landlords and vendors, it was not enough to avoid a bankruptcy filing amid an extremely challenging environment for retailers,” he said.
Modell added that the bankruptcy filing was “not the outcome” that he wanted.
He called it “one of the most difficult days of my life.”
“But I believe liquidation provides the greatest recovery for our creditors,” he added.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
