Cookware and kitchen chain Sur La Table is closing two of its three stores in the Portland metro area as part of cost-cutting that will close 56 of its 121 stores nationally. The chain is seeking bankruptcy protection, the latest retail casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.
The privately held Seattle-based company said that has agreed to sell the remaining stores to affiliates of Fortress Investment Group following the bankruptcy procedure and store closures. The post-sale company will also include its in-person and online cooking classes, and its e-commerce business.
The two Oregon stores closing are the one in Lake Oswego and at Bridgeport Village. That leaves one store -- in the Pearl District -- remaining.
"This sale process will result in a revitalized Sur La Table, positioned to thrive in a post COVID-19 retail environment," said CEO Jason Goldberger.
Of the 56 locations being closed, 51 are having liquidations sales and will permanently close in August or September, a company representative said. The other five did not reopen after being shuttered at the outset of the coronavirus outbreak.
Sur La Table's website says its stores that have reopened did so under local and federal guidelines related to COVID-19.
Sur La Table had its start in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1972.