Express may lay off over 600 employees at corporate offices in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – Express has announced it may close down its Ohio corporate offices and lay off over 600 employees.

Express, whose portfolio includes Bonobos and UpWest, filed for bankruptcy Monday and plans to close 95 Express stores and all 10 of its UpWest stores. The company did not specify which Express locations will be shut down.

In a news release, Express claimed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was to “facilitate the sale” of most of its operations to an investor group, which includes WHP Global, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties. Subject to court approval, Express said it received a letter of intent from the investors to buy the assets.

In connection to the company’s bankruptcy filing, Express stated it expects to close offices at 1 Express Drive, near Easton Town Center, and at 235 N. Fourth St. Downtown.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, notice filed Tuesday with the state, the company said if restructuring efforts fail or the buyer fails to provide a sufficient number of job offers to current employees, all 614 Ohio office employees would be permanently laid off. Layoffs are expected to occur in late June.

An Express spokesperson sent the following statement:

“We are required to provide notification under certain state and federal laws of possible job losses, even as we work to complete a sale of the Company through a court-supervised process. Given that we do not yet know exactly which employees will have continuing roles following this process, out of an abundance of caution, Express, Inc. is providing WARN notice to all corporate associates. These notices do not mean that anyone’s employment has or will be terminated.”

Express has 11 stores in Ohio, including at Easton and Polaris Fashion Place. The state is home to one Bonobos store in Columbus’ Victorian Village neighborhood. According to the company, two Ohio stores — one in Toledo and one in Liberty Township — are set to close. None of the company’s 10 UpWest stores is located in Ohio.

The locations slated to close, listed in court filings, can be found in the table below:

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