CBSNews.com

Payless ShoeSource has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is shuttering its remaining stores in North America. The filing on Monday came a day after the discount shoe chain began holding going-out-of-business sales at its North American stores. Payless filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District of Missouri, listing $500 million to $1 billion in debt, according to court filings. The company, based in Topeka, Kansas, updated the number of stores it's closing to 2,500, up from the 2,100 it cited on Friday when it confirmed it was planning to liquidate its business. Payless reiterated that stores will remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May. The liquidation doesn't affect its franchise operations or its Latin American stores, which remain open for business as usual, it said. The debt-burdened chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a first time in April 2017, closing hundreds of stores as part of its reorganization. At the time, it had over 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries. It emerged from restructuring four months later with about 3,500 stores and having eliminated more than $435 million in debt.