BELLEVUE, WA - The Houston-based retailer Mattress Firm announced Friday it will close about 700 stores as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing. The announcement comes two days after a Washington man filed a class action lawsuit against Mattress Firm over wage violations.

The decision to close stores in certain markets was made because there are "too many locations in close proximity to each other," the company said in a news release. As many as 200 stores could close in the coming days. Specific locations were not announced Friday.



"We intend to use the additional liquidity from these actions to improve our product offering, provide greater value to our customers, open new stores in new markets, and strategically expand in existing markets where we see the greatest opportunities to serve our customers," Steve Stagner, president and CEO of Mattress Firm, said in the news release.