Christopher & Banks is an American retail company. Originally headquartered in the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

suburb of Plymouth, Minnesota, it specializes in women's clothing for the age 40-60 demographic. In January 2021, the company filed for bankruptcy and closed all stores due to financial loss from the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Following the bankruptcy and closures, Christopher & Banks' assets and intellectual property were acquired by

Eden Prairie Eden Prairie is a city southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County and the 16th-largest city in the State of Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,198. The city is adjacent to the north bank of th ...

-based iMedia Brands. Since the acquisition, online retail for the company has resumed, as well as five brick-and-mortar locations.

History

The chain was founded in 1956 as Braun's Fashions in

. It became a publicly traded company in 1992, and was re-branded as Christopher & Banks in 2000. Also in 2000, the chain founded a second brand, CJ Banks, which is a plus-size clothing store. In November 2004 Christopher & Banks acquired the Acorn Stores chain and operated it as a third retail concept. Christopher & Banks announced on July 31, 2008, that they intended to close Acorn and followed through with this plan, closing all 36 Acorn stores by the end of the year. On April 4, 2005, The Company restated its consolidated statements of income for the fiscal years ended March 1, 2003 and February 28, 2004, as well as for interim periods within the fiscal year ended February 26, 2005, to present the amortization of construction allowances as a reduction of rent expense instead of a reduction of depreciation expense. In 2014, the company began phasing out CJ Banks stores, and combining the plus-size lines into Christopher & Banks stores. In cases where such stores were adjacent, the stores were combined into one larger store. In January 2021, the company announced that it filed for bankruptcy and would be closing all stores due to financial loss from the ongoing the

. Following the bankruptcy, the brand has been relaunched under the ownership of Minnesota-based iMedia Brands. As of January 2022, five locations have been opened, with stores in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, Branson, Missouri, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

References

Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Clothing retailers of the United States Companies based in Plymouth, Minnesota American companies established in 1956 American companies disestablished in 2021 Retail companies established in 1956 Retail companies disestablished in 2021 1956 establishments in Minnesota 2021 disestablishments in Minnesota Companies disestablished due to the COVID-19 pandemic Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021 Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy {{US-retail-company-stub