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Wet Seal to shutter all stores, including ones in St. Petersburg and Tampa

 
Wet Seal is shuttering all stores, including one in Tryone Square Mall in St. Petersburg. 
[SCOTT KEELER | Times]
Wet Seal is shuttering all stores, including one in Tryone Square Mall in St. Petersburg. [SCOTT KEELER | Times]
Published Jan. 27, 2017

Wet Seal, a women's fashion mall retailer that was big with teenagers in the '90s, is closing all of its stores.

The company announced it would shutter all stores and its California corporate headquarters this month after struggling for two years to find a buyer or new investors. Wet Seal filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and closed hundreds of stores at that time. A private equity firm bought the retailer out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection shortly after and kept 140 stores open, but the business never rebounded.

Wet Seal has 15 stores in Florida, including locations at International Plaza in Tampa and at Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg. Liquidation sales have already begun at Tampa Bay area stores. It's unclear when stores will close for good, but employees at the International Plaza store said it will likely remain open through February.

Previous Coverage: The 2016 shopping year in review: More stores closed and struggled because they couldn't keep up with the new guys

Wet Seal served the same kind of customer that new and emerging brands like H&M, Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe attracts in major malls across the country.

It's the latest women's fashion retailer to fold after struggling to keep up with the fickle tastes of young consumers. The Limited closed stores in December and filed for bankruptcy this month. Cache, a common stop for prom dresses in malls such as Tyrone Square and the Westfield malls in Countryside, Citrus Park and Brandon, shuttered stores and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2015. Delia's, which sold clothes and accessories to girls and teens, liquidated its stores in Florida the same year.

Contact Justine Griffin at jgriffin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8467. Follow @SunBizGriffin.