A debt of $1.2 billion with only $1.3 billion in assets is challenging to manage, so a popular retail clothing store is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

There are 530 Express retail stores across the United States, 24 of which are in Illinois. Express announced plans today to shutter 95 of its stores.

WHEN WILL EXPRESS STORES CLOSE IN ILLINOIS?

Closings in the stores will begin immediately, affecting many states nationwide.

In Illinois, these are the Express stores that will close:

UpWest, owned by parent company Express, will also close a handful of stores, including one in Illinois at 924 West Armitage Avenue in Chicago.

EXPRESS CLOSINGS IN WISCONSIN

The East Towne Mall Express location in Madison is the lone retail store in Wisconsin to close, while an Express Factory Outlet in Baraboo will also close.

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Express has been in a bad state since early March, when the stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

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According to MSN, the closures will begin with "closing sales" scheduled to begin today, April 23.

Express joins the long list of stores closing across the US and Illinois, like Best Buy, CVS, Dollar Tree, Macy's, Outback Steakhouse, and Walgreens.

According to their website, Express believes "that everyone should dream big and dress accordingly." Is this a case of dreaming too big or just another store suffering the same fate as many other retail shops?

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