The Ames Gadzooks store will not be among the approximately 125 stores closing as a result of the national clothing chain filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week.

The chain announced bankruptcy in a statement Tuesday.

The Ames store, located in North Grand Mall, 2801 Grand Ave., learned Thursday afternoon it would not close, said Heidi Bonneville, store manager.

“The Ames store will stay open, but we haven’t heard anything else,” she said.

The retailer, which specializes in clothing and accessories for a targeted demographic of 16- to 22-year-old women, currently operates 410 stores in 41 states, including 14 in Iowa, according to the statement.

Thirty-one of these stores are already in the process of liquidation and will soon be closed.

Gadzooks was a unisex clothing retailer until July of 2003, when the company relaunched its brand-name with an “all-girl store concept,” according to a July statement from the company.

Managers at Gadzooks stores in Merle Hay Mall and Southridge Shopping Center in Des Moines, Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, College Square Mall in Cedar Falls and Crossroads Mall in Fort Dodge said Thursday night they hadn’t heard if their stores would close.

The Ames store will remain open because it is probably successful, said J. David Hunger, professor of management.

“The first thing businesses do in bankruptcy is close the stores that are bleeding profits,” he said. “Ames is presumably profitable.”

In Chapter 11 filings, Hunger said a court selects someone to run the company until it can come out of debt and make a profit.

Gadzooks filed for bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of Texas, where the company is based, according to Tuesday’s press release.

Companies filing bankruptcy protection must make arrangements with suppliers and creditors to make sure stores remain stocked, Hunger said.

“If a supplier stops supplying a company, or forces it to pay cash on delivery, the company is in deep trouble,” he said.

Officials at North Grand Mall received the news that Gadzooks would remain open before the Ames Gadzooks staff did, said Kurt Carlson, general manager of the mall.

North Grand was happy Gadzooks would continue to operate at the mall, he said.

“We’re thankful this one isn’t closing,” Carlson said. “It’s had good management and been a good store.”