Just three weeks after J.C. Penney announced it was closing its doors for business at Meridian’s Bonita Lakes Mall, another mall tenant announced its closing.

Payless ShoeSource announced April 4 it is undergoing reorganization and filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Payless will close eight of its stores in Mississippi, including the one at Bonita Lakes Mall, according to its website. No specific date was provided.

J.C. Penney at Bonita Lakes Mall is among five Mississippi locations and 138 stores nationwide that are scheduled to close by mid-June as the company seeks to cut costs and improve its profitability. Targeted cities for closure also included Columbus, Corinth, Greenville and Oxford.

Bonita Lakes Mall Manager Renee Williams said the closing seems to a trend.

“It’s just part of a nationwide bankruptcy,” Williams said. “It definitely opens up another opportunity for a local or regional retailer to open up in the center.”

Sears Holdings Inc., which operates another anchor store at Bonita Lakes, warned investors in March that it can’t promise it will stay in business.

Andy Weiner, president of Rockstep Capital which operates Bonita Lakes Mall, said he was saddened by the news of Payless’ closing.

“Payless has been a struggling company for a while now. I’m sorry to see them leave, but I wish them the best,” Weiner said.

Payless is filing for recognition of the U.S. Chapter 11 proceedings under Part IV of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, according to its website.

“We intend to use the Chapter 11 process to implement a comprehensive path forward to meaningfully enhance our growth profile and profitability, positioning us to continue to thrive as a sustainable business in the face of the retail industry’s radical, unprecedented transformation,” the website stated.