Draft:Metropark (retailer)

Metropark USA, Inc. (stylized as METROPARK and commonly referred to as just Metropark) was an American lifestyle clothing and music retailer headquartered and based in Los Angeles, California. The retailer had close to 70 stores at its peak, and the stores offered modern fashion, as well as music and art events. Metropark closed all of its stores by the end of June 2011.

History
Metropark was founded in 2004 by Orv Madden, which also founded the Hot Topic retailer, opening its first 4 stores in California in the fall of 2004.

The company quickly expanded to 43 stores in 17 states, and in June 2008, Metropark announced that they had filed an IPO to go public, and planned to begin trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticket symbol MTPK by the end of 2010. The company also had plans to open 25 additional stores nationwide by the end of 2008, with a goal of opening 25 to 30 stores every year, with plans to operate as many as 300 stores nationwide. Sales for the company also increased dramatically, going from $11.5 million in net sales in 2005, to $71.6 million in net sales in 2007. In June 2010, however, Metropark scrapped future plans for a $100 million IPO due to changes in security markets, and would not go public on the Nasdaq.

On May 2, 2011, Metropark filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing the recession, unemployment, decline in credit-card availability and glut of premium denim at reduced prices for its bankruptcy filing. The company had around $10 million in unpaid debt that the company owed to other clothings brands such as True Religion, and other debtors and bondholders. Metropark announced that all 69 stores would be permanently closed by the end of June 2011, with going out of business sales beginning immediately after the bankruptcy announcement.

On September 13, 2011, The Weisfeld Group acquired Metropark's intellectual property rights, and had plans to revamp and revive the business by the beginning of 2012 as an e-commerce site. On March 7, 2012, Metropark was revived as an online-only retailer. The website shut down in late 2016, with no plans to bring back the Metropark brand in any sort of way as of 2024.