Ames Plans To Close 17 Stores In 3 States

A week after announcing disappointing Christmas sales, Ames Department Stores Inc. said it will close 17 unprofitable stores in three states and eliminate nearly 1,100 jobs.

Ames said Friday the moves would enable the discounter to consider opening stores in choice locations vacated by other battered retailers.

Ames, caught up in fierce competition in the Northeast among discount retailers, said it will shut 11 stores in New York, five in Maine and one in Pennsylvania by early March.

“Nowadays you don’t have the luxury of sitting and nursing something back to health,” president and CEO Joseph R. Ettore said.