The parent company of Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob’s Stores has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to shutter several New England locations, including Maine’s only Bob’s, in South Portland.

Meriden, Connecticut-based Vestis Retail Group LLC said Monday that the move was made because of increased competition from big-box stores and online retailers, as well as an unseasonably warm winter that made for poor sales of cold-weather clothing.

The Bob’s location scheduled to close in South Portland is at 301 Maine Mall Road. The store occupies about 20,450 square feet and is adjacent to the Toys “R” Us store, and across the street from The Maine Mall.

Store employees said the property is owned by West Roxbury, Massachusetts-based Charles River Realty Group. They said no date has been set for the store to shut down, and that it would depend on how quickly the retail outlet can liquidate its inventory.

According to a 2012 listing for the property on commercial real estate website LoopNet, Vestis Retail has a 10-year lease on the Maine Mall Road property that expires in 2021. However, leases can be broken without penalty in a bankruptcy proceeding. No new listing for the property had been posted as of 1 p.m. Tuesday.

The New England EMS stores scheduled to close are in Foxborough, Massachusetts; Warwick, Rhode Island; and West Hartford, Connecticut.

The only Maine location for EMS is at 87 Marginal Way in Portland.

Eastern Mountain Sports sells outdoors gear, while Bob’s is a discount footwear and clothing store.

If the courts approve, the company would emerge from bankruptcy with 35 Bob’s Stores and 53 Eastern Mountain locations.

____________________________________

CORRECTION: This story was updated at 12:54 p.m. on April 22, 2016, to correct the name of the owner of Bob’s Stores in South Portland.

Copy the Story Link