Wet Seal is closing down its California headquarters and shuttering all of its stores after the company was unable to find a buyer, according to media reports. In a letter dated January 20 that was obtained by The Wall Street Journal, the apparel retailer notified employees working in the company's Irvine, California headquarters that the office was permanently shutting down and laying off all of its workers. Citing a letter dated Jan. 20, the Journal says that Wet Seal vice president Michelle Stocker wrote that the retailer could not find the funding or partnership it needed, and “will receive no further financing for its operations.’’

Versa Capital, which owns the store chain, declined to comment, and an inquiry to Wet Seal did not immediately receive a response. The closing of Wet Seal’s 171 stores comes just two years after the Irvine, Ca.-based chain closed two-thirds of its locations, laid off almost 3,700 workers and then, in Jan. 2015, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Wet Seal is joining a very sad club, with fellow clothing chains The Limited also closing its stores before filing for bankruptcy, and twice-bankrupt American Apparel starting to shutter stores as well.
The clothing retailer Wet Seal announces the closing of all 148 of its brick-and-mortar stores after filing for bankruptcy in 2015. The news comes on the heels of recent announcements of the closings of other major clothing chains, such as The Limited.