The retailer says all the stores will remain open through the end of March, at least, and the majority of them until May. The liquidation will not affect the franchised or Latin America stores.

Payless first filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2017, when it closed nearly 700 stores. The company re-emerged after four months but could not maintain the debt payments while competing against such rivals as DSW and TJX, according to CNBC.

"The challenges facing retailers today are well-documented, and, unfortunately, Payless emerged from its prior reorganization ill-equipped to survive in today's retail environment," said Stephen Marotta, the company's chief restructuring officer, in a written statement. "The prior proceedings left the company with too much remaining debt, too large a store footprint, and a yet-to-be realized systems and corporate-overhead structure consolidation."