Coldwater Creek to close stores

The women’s clothing retailer Coldwater Creek has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after failing to find a potential buyer or a source of capital to help fund its turnaround efforts.

Coldwater Creek said Friday that its stores and its website are still open and selling clothing and other goods to shoppers. An employee at the company’s location at The Greene Town Center said the local store will close.

But it expects to start sales to liquidate its inventory in early May. It plans to hold going out of business sales in the coming months.

The chain said it spent the past six months evaluating its options, but that its declining financial resources, tough retail conditions and its inability to find other viable options drove it to file for bankruptcy protection.

Coldwater Creek has struggled in recent years due to weak consumer spending and a failure to find fashions that resonated with customers. It hadn’t posted a quarterly profit since the second quarter of 2010.

The Sandpoint, Idaho-based company had cut costs and closed some stores during its attempts to keep the business afloat. It also made other moves to improve its profitability, but declines in sales trends continued to intensify.