MILWAUKEE — The venture that won an auction for the Bon-Ton's assets plans to close its stores, the company's CEO announced Tuesday.

"While we are disappointed by this outcome and tried very hard to identify bidders interested in operating the business as a going concern, we are committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations that minimizes the impact of this development on our associates, customers, vendors and the communities we serve," said Bill Tracy, president and chief executive officer. "We are incredibly grateful to all of our associates for their dedicated service to Bon-Ton and to our millions of loyal customers who we have had the pleasure to serve as their hometown store for more than 160 years."

A hearing in bankruptcy court to approve the sale and wind-down of Bon-Ton is scheduled for today.

The Bon-Ton is the last remaining department store in the Columbia Mall in Buckhorn.

That store and all other company stores — along with its online sales components —will remain open throughout the store-closing sales, a press release on the auction states.

Bon-Ton expects to provide more details about the liquidation plans and going out of business sales at its stores following approval of the winning bid by the Bankruptcy Court.

As previously announced, on February 4, 2018, Bon-Ton and its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for a court-supervised financial restructuring under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.