Stores Closing: Payless Shoes, Gymboree, Sears

I’ll be honest – I hate writing about stores closing. But since the news about stores going out of business generally means sales with deep discounts, I wanted to give you a heads up. Payless Shoes and Gymboree are both going out of business. And you may have already heard that the Sears store in Towne East Mall is closing as well, although some Sears stores around the country are staying open for now.

According to its website, Topeka-based Payless Shoes has six store locations in Wichita.

Gymboree has one location, which is in Bradley Fair.

The Towne West Sears already closed, but the Sears in Towne East Mall is now also closing.

Expect to see store closing sales at all of these retail locations beginning this month.

Here’s a good point made by Julie in the comments:

Remember to shop JCPenney’s appliance sections. The stores aren’t closing, but the are liquidating appliances. Display models currently 50% off. This includes some countertop microwaves, wine refrigerators, water filters, and garbage disposals.

Shopping going out of business sales can be tricky, though. Unless you really know what price you would normally pay, you may end up leaving the store with something that is not a deal. To help you avoid some common pitfalls, bargain hunter Bryan from MileHighontheCheap.com has these tips:

Going out of business sales: tips for getting the best deals

Several stores are closing in Denver too, so experienced deal-hunter Bryan shared these tips at MileHighontheCheap.com

“As with all close-out sales, the deals get better as the final day approaches, but the selection may not be the best.

As a result, deal seekers have to know when it’s the right time to buy or possibly lose out on big savings. It means you have to check often because you don’t know when the next price drop will happen. Plus, all sales are final, so there’s no chance of returning items and re-buying them at a lower price.

The discount schedule is top-secret information. Based on our years of bargain hunting and insight, the price seems to drop every week with the final day usually being when everything is 90% off or more.

(Of course, the business wants to make as much money as possible and, if the public knew the exact schedule of price drops, everyone would just wait for the best discount.)

Most die-hard bargain hunters consider 75% off the time to start buying — that’s the golden savings spot. The trick is to check the percentage off every day — either by calling or stopping by.”