Bon-Ton misses 14 million dollar interest payment

Bon-Ton Department Stores Inc. said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that they will be using a 30-day grace period to delay a 14 million dollar interest payment on a loan. The payment was due last Friday.

Bon-Ton, which is the parent company of several department stores throughout the United States, including Boston Store and Younkers, has been victim to the decline of brick-and-mortar and declining mall traffic. With more customers shopping online, Bon-Ton has continuously struggled over the past few years. For the last six years, the company has been unprofitable, and is on track to post another loss for 2017. For the three-quarters of 2017 so far, the company has lost 135.4 million dollars.

In an effort to turn their business around and cut costs, Bon-Ton will be closing 40 stores by the end of 2018. While there is no official list of stores yet, this would bring about a reduction of about one-sixth of the company's total stores.

photo: via Bon-Ton Facebook page