The company says about 950 jobs will be affected by the 100 stores that could be closed. About 70 jobs will be cut from its corporate offices in Brooklyn Park and a distribution center in Las Vegas, which that is being closed as well. In Minnesota, about 60 headquarter employees will lose their jobs, but none of its 18 Minnesota stores will be closed in either move, according to Waller.

As a result, the company will go from 598 stores at the start of the month to 430 or so within the next three to four months, he says. The company was hurt by its expansion into luggage retailing, a part of the travel industry that was hurt by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and the recent recession. That luggage retailing division was shut down in a restructuring move made a year ago.

The company, which is heavily dependent on holiday sales, has had three tough years in a row. Last December, its same-store sales were down more than 6%, and in December of 2002, the same-store sales were down more than 10%.