About 450 of its stores are being cast off to sea..(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Pier 1 Imports is trimming its salesabout 450 of them.

In announcing another quarter of losses and declining sales, the company dropped a bombshell in saying it would close 450 of its stores, representing nearly half of its overall fleet.

The news comes amid swirling rumors, unconfirmed, that the retailer will file for bankruptcy soon. Such a move would not be unexpected given the task of getting out of store leases without the benefit of bankruptcy proceedings.

They would also be consistent with the prior history of the companys CEO, Robert Riesbeck, who was named to the post only this past November and has a history in turnaround efforts and bankruptcies. Earlier in his career, he was CEO of consumer electronics chain HH Gregg when it filed for bankruptcy in 2017. It was eventually liquidated.

Along with the store closings, a timetable for which was not announced, the company said it would cut its headquarters staff as well as some distribution centers. Bloomberg has reported the staff cuts amount to 40% of its corporate staff, or about 300 people. Pier 1 has not commented on these reports.

While the company had previously said it would close 70 doors later upped to as many as 150 this new round clearly represents a major step-up in its efforts to stay afloat. It has had declining comp store sales for nine quarters, including 11.4% this quarter, and losses for the most recent period exceeded those of a year ago.

Trading in the companys stock was halted mid-afternoon on Monday after falling nearly 17% and that continued to decline in after-hours trading.

Pier 1 has struggled for years, churning through a series of executives and marketing strategies, all the while dealing with a store count increasingly out of proportion to its overall business and the rise of e-commerce. Under prior management, online sales were discontinued for a period of time and while they were resumed the company has had to play catch-up online ever since.

With a radically reduced physical presence, Pier 1 could be in a position to be better suited to the retail landscape, but its lackluster stores, often poorly located and underinvested in over the past few years, will still have to carry the load as it tries to get fully up to speed online.

Riesbeck, in announcing the bad news, said he remained hopeful these steps would buy the company some time to fix its problems: Looking ahead, we believe that we will deliver improved financial results over time as we realize the benefits of our business transformation and cost-reduction initiatives.

Its what CEOs are paid to say when all signs would seem to indicate the ship is going down.

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Pier 1 Is Closing Half Of Its Stores; Is Bankruptcy Next? - Forbes