Rue21, a mainly mall-based chain that caters to teens, is the latest retailer this year that plans to shut all its stores, in its case 540 locations after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a third time.

The company, based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, on Thursday filed a bankruptcy petition in Wilmington, Delaware. Rue21 also sought Chapter 11 protection from creditors, and previously closed hundreds of brick-and-mortar locations, in 2003 and 2017. In this go-around, Rue21 said its entire store fleet is scheduled to close in the next two months. The company is looking to separately sell its intellectual property rights.

There have been a spate of retail Chapter 11 filings in the past 12 months, with at least one chain planning to shut down amid a challenging economic environment. Last fall, drugstore chain Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to close 367 sites. Mall-staple Express filed for Chapter 11 and plans to shutter over 100 stores. And discounter 99 Cents Only Stores is pulling the plug on all its 371 locations, and has filed for Chapter 11.

Rue21, which describes itself as selling affordable fashion, didn't respond to an email from CoStar News seeking comment, and the retailer's website was down on Wednesday.

In an affidavit, Rue21 Interim CEO Michele Pascoe said the company was being impacted by the same challenges as other retailers.

"Over the past several years, the debtors’ business operations, like those of many of their peers in the retail space, have been negatively impacted by challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and related adverse market trends, including a shift in consumer shopping patterns from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to online retailers and changing consumer preferences," Pascoe said.

"More specifically, the debtors have recently experienced operational losses resulting from, among other things, under-performing retail locations, increased industry competition and the uptick in online shopping, inflation and macroeconomic headwinds, and challenges raising capital," she said.

Rue21 attempted to financially restructure and also solicited bids for the company, according to Pascoe.

"It became apparent that proposals to purchase the debtors’ assets at a going-concern value would not exceed the projected proceeds that could be realized by liquidating the debtors’ store-level inventory and assets, closing down their brick-and-mortar retail locations, and winding down operations," she said.

Rue21 chose Gordon Brothers of Boston to assist in its store closures.

In court documents, Rue21 said its stores are located in various strip malls, regional malls, and outlet centers throughout the United States. Bill Read, executive vice president at Retail Specialists, did an analysis of its locations and found that 309 are in malls.

"It's apparent a lot of these stores will close," Read posted on LinkedIn. "While we don't know if they will sell some stores and keep a smaller selection of stores open, it's clear that new opportunities are appearing for retailers to open in a space constrained market."

At one time, Rue21 had 1,000 stores.

The current Rue21 is a successor to Pennsylvania Fashions, which was founded in 1970. When it emerged from Chapter 11 proceedings in 2003, the company changed its name to Rue21. It went public in 2009, but its majority owners took the company private again.

The chain rapidly expanded, according to Pascoe, but then ran into trouble.

Rue21's "substantial brick-and-mortar presence, coupled with the fact that their business was heavily dependent on physical in-store traffic, created significant challenges to the debtors’ profitability," Pascoe said.

It filed for Chapter 11 in 2017, and exited after reducing its debt by over $700 million, closing roughly 400 underperforming stores and renegotiating leases for go-forward stores, according to Pascoe.