If your local Maurices recently shut down or you spotted “everything must go” signs in the window, it’s easy to panic and assume the whole chain is done. But that’s not what’s actually happening.
This article breaks down exactly what’s going on — whether Maurices is closing as a company or just trimming specific stores, what’s driving the closures, what the ownership changes mean, and what you should do if you have a gift card or no store nearby.
Maurices Is Not Going Out of Business — But It Is Closing Stores
Let’s answer the main question right away: Maurices is not shutting down as a company.
As of recent reporting, Maurices operates around 900 stores across the U.S. and Canada and continues to sell online at maurices.com. Individual locations are closing, but that is not the same thing as the entire chain folding.
When a specific store closes, Maurices typically directs customers to a nearby location or to its website. For example, when the Macedonia Commons store in Ohio closed in April 2026, signage pointed shoppers to the Maurices in Stow, Ohio, and to the online store. The brand kept running — just not at that one address.
Closures are happening because of underperforming locations, declining mall traffic, or lease decisions. That’s a very different situation from a company-wide shutdown.
The Real Pattern Behind Recent Store Closures
If you look at where Maurices has been closing stores, a clear pattern shows up: older or struggling malls.
Between 2024 and 2026, closures hit University Mall in Tuscaloosa, Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, Mall of America and Northtown Mall in Minnesota, and Macedonia Commons in Ohio. These are mostly lower-traffic or transitioning mall properties.
The Tuscaloosa store ran an “everything must go” sale before shutting permanently. The Des Moines location closed without a nearby replacement. In the Twin Cities, Maurices closed its Mall of America and Northtown Mall stores — but other Maurices locations in the region stayed open.
This fits a pattern that many mid-tier clothing retailers are following right now. They’re pulling back from weak mall properties while keeping stronger locations running. A closing sale with steep discounts and store fixtures for sale is a single-location liquidation, not proof the whole chain is collapsing.
So if you see a Maurices closing near you, ask: are there other Maurices stores still open in your area? Is the company still selling online? If yes, then you’re looking at a location decision, not a company death.
Some Closures Are Actually Relocations
Here’s something that gets missed a lot: some Maurices “closures” aren’t closures at all. They’re moves.
In St. Joseph, Missouri, Maurices closed one location and reopened at The Shoppes at North Village just days later — with a grand reopening event. From the outside, a customer driving past the old location would see closure signs and assume the brand left. It didn’t. It just moved across town to a better spot.
The same thing happened in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Maurices left Columbia Mall, but it didn’t leave Grand Forks. A local August 2026 report confirmed the store was relocating within the city, not exiting the market.
The strategy seems consistent: get out of struggling malls, and move to better-performing shopping centers when it makes sense. A closure sign looks the same whether the store is gone forever or just moving down the road. That distinction matters, especially if you’re deciding whether to stop shopping there altogether.
What Happened With Maurices’ Ownership and Finances
A lot of the “Maurices is going out of business” rumors trace back to its time under Ascena Retail Group.
Ascena, which owned Maurices along with several other brands, announced plans to close up to 650 stores across all its brands after recording roughly a $1 billion write-down. At the time, Maurices was Ascena’s largest brand, with over 1,000 stores. That level of corporate turbulence naturally triggered headlines and fears about Maurices specifically.
But Maurices survived that period. It was later sold to OpCapita, a European private equity firm, for approximately $300 million. At the time of the sale, the company confirmed it would stay headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, and continue operations. It wasn’t a shutdown — it was a change in ownership.
Then in September 2026, Maurices completed a refinancing transaction. Refinancing isn’t a red flag on its own. Think of it like refinancing a home mortgage — the goal is to make your payments more manageable so you can stay in your house. Liquidation would be selling the house entirely and walking away. Maurices did the former, not the latter. The fact that lenders agreed to refinance suggests the business is still being treated as a going concern.
Yes, Maurices has also gone through layoffs and cost-cutting, citing challenging market conditions — particularly competition from fast fashion brands and e-commerce. These are real pressures. But cutting costs and adjusting headcount is what businesses do to stay alive, not a sign that they’ve given up.
How to Tell a Store Closure From a Chain-Wide Shutdown
It helps to know what each actually looks like so you can read the situation clearly.
Signs of a single-store closure:
- One location posts “store closing” or “everything must go” signs
- The company website still works and shows other nearby locations
- Closure notices direct customers to a nearby Maurices or to maurices.com
- No company-wide press release or bankruptcy filing
Signs of a chain-wide shutdown:
- All store locators return no results
- The website shuts down or stops taking orders
- A formal bankruptcy or liquidation filing is announced
- Multiple credible news outlets report a full chain closure
Right now, Maurices shows none of the chain-wide shutdown signs. Stores are still open, the website is active, and the company completed a financing deal as recently as 2026.
One More Thing: Don’t Confuse Maurices With Maurice Sporting Goods
If you searched for “Maurice bankruptcy” and found a story about a sporting goods company filing for Chapter 11 in 2017, that’s a completely different business. Maurice Sporting Goods was a sporting goods wholesaler — not the women’s clothing retailer.
The similar names have caused real confusion online. Articles about that bankruptcy have nothing to do with Maurices apparel. Double-check what you’re reading before drawing conclusions.
What This Means for Customers Right Now
If your local Maurices closed, here’s what you can actually do:
- Check maurices.com for the nearest open location. Use the store locator. There may be another store within a reasonable distance, or one may have relocated nearby.
- Shop online. Maurices.com ships directly, and the full product range is available there.
- Use your gift cards. Since the company is still operating, gift cards should remain valid at other locations and online. If you’re unsure, call Maurices customer service to confirm before the card sits unused.
- Check return policies before your old location fully closes. Most returns can be processed at any open Maurices store or by mail through the website.
For ongoing updates on retail closures and business news like this, TheBusiness Figure covers the kind of practical business stories that actually affect what happens in your local area.
The Bottom Line
Maurices is not going out of business. It is closing specific stores — mostly in weaker malls — while keeping hundreds of other locations open and maintaining an active online presence. Some closures are actually relocations to better spots in the same city.
The company went through real turbulence during the Ascena years, changed ownership, and is now managing competitive pressure through cost-cutting and store count adjustments. That’s restructuring, not collapse.
If a store near you closed, that’s a genuine loss of convenience. But it doesn’t mean the brand is done. Check the website, find the nearest location, and keep your gift cards — they’re still good.
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