Williamson Daily News Staff

LEXINGTON - A published report says that Lexington-based Dawahares Department Stores will close its 22 remaining stores - including the store in the South Side Mall in nearby Pike County - by this fall.

The closures bring to an end the family-owned company after 101 years of service. The closing will affect both Dawahares Southside Mall and Pikeville, Ky., locations.

The announcement came Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and was reported in the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper. The company recently closed seven stores after filing for bankruptcy protection in May.

Originally, only the seven initial stores were set to close, saving the local establishments.

Company officials said they had to make the difficult decision because the business is expected to run out of money by the end of October.

Dawahares expects the liquidation of the stores to begin by July 14 and end by Sept. 30. It is estimated that 400 people will lose their jobs due to the closing.

Dawahares has been an anchor store in the South Side Mall since it opened in 1981. It is one of the few remaining stores that has been in the mall since its opening.

At one point, there were reports that said Dawahares was looking to locate a store in the Fountain Place Mall or in the city of Logan, but those plans never materialized.

The Dawahares chain also had a store in the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, but it closed nearly a year ago.

Dawahares, during the Rick Pitino basketball era at the University of Kentucky, was the official outfitters of the team.

-Logan Banner Managing Editor Michael Browning also contributed to this report.