Payless leader: Company exits bankruptcy with less debt, fewer stores, bright future

“We are still very much in business.”

Those words from Payless ShoeSource chief financial officer Michael Schwindle affirm the strong and decided approach the Topeka-based company is bringing to its challenges as it emerged from bankruptcy on Thursday.

“We had two major tasks to accomplish during the bankruptcy,” he said. “The first was to reset our debt load, and the second was to reset some of the operating costs of the business, and most importantly, the occupancy costs of a very large store fleet. We accomplished both of those in spades.”

While doing either — the company dropped its debt load to $435 million from $838 million and closed nearly 20 percent of its retail locations — would have helped, Schwindle said doing both positioned the company well for the future.

Read more: http://cjonline.com/news/business/local/2017-08-11/payless-leader-company-exits-bankruptcy-less-debt-fewer-stores-bright