Leslie’s, a pool-supply retailer with more than 900 physical locations, went to bankruptcy court on September 30, and the customer questions started the same day. Leslie’s, Inc. says its remaining stores stay open outside a group of 76 it is shutting, and the company says gift cards and Pool Perks rewards will still be honored. Those are promises from the company, made while it reorganizes, and they sit alongside what the bankruptcy system lets a debtor do.
Chapter 11 filing in the Southern District of Texas
Leslie’s and its affiliates filed voluntary petitions for a prearranged Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to the company’s September 30 announcement. The claims agent, Kroll, lists the case number as 26-90795, with Judge Alfredo R. Pérez presiding.
“Prearranged” means the company reached a restructuring support agreement with a group of its existing lenders before filing. The announcement describes $90 million in new-money debtor-in-possession financing, a separate $225 million asset-based facility, and a reduction of roughly $685 million, or 90 percent, of funded debt. The company’s stated goal is to emerge in early 2027. A filing is not a finished reorganization: the plan still needs the votes and court approval that Chapter 11 requires, and the U.S. Courts’ Chapter 11 overview notes that the debtor usually remains in possession and may continue to operate its business while that happens.
The 76 closing stores and the 900 that are not on that list
The company’s announcement says Leslie’s “today announced the closure of 76 stores” and puts the chain at more than 900 physical locations. The company’s customer FAQ repeats the number and adds that “outside of the 76 locations recently announced for closure, all remaining Leslie’s stores remain open and fully operational,” pointing shoppers to a store locator on its own site. The pages reviewed for this piece do not name which 76 locations are closing, and lists like this one can move quickly during a bankruptcy, so the locator is the place to confirm a specific address.
The closures matter for gift cards and rewards in a practical way. A card is only as useful as the nearest open register or the website, and every shuttered location removes one place to spend it.
What Leslie’s says about gift cards and Pool Perks
The company’s announcement states: “All gift cards and loyalty program benefits will continue to be honored.” Chief Executive Officer Jason McDonell is the executive named in that release, which frames the filing as “an important milestone in our commitment to our customers and our business.”
On its restructuring information page, the company answers the gift-card question directly: “Yes, you can still use gift cards in accordance with our existing policies.” On rewards, the company says customers “can continue earning rewards on every purchase” and keep the benefits of the Pool Perks program, which it describes as including free standard shipping and exclusive offers. Leslie’s also says free in-store water testing, equipment repair and in-field services continue, and that returns and exchanges follow its existing policies. McDonell is quoted there as saying, “Leslie’s is here to stay, and we will be stronger for you on the other side of our restructuring.”
Every one of those lines is the company describing its own plans. The company says the commitments continue; neither page reviewed shows a court order requiring it. The phrase “in accordance with our existing policies” also means whatever terms already apply to a card, such as how balances are redeemed, still apply.
What a bankruptcy court can do to a customer’s claim
Filing a Chapter 11 case triggers an automatic stay: per the U.S. Courts overview, “a stay of creditor actions against the chapter 11 debtor automatically goes into effect when the bankruptcy petition is filed.” Creditors whose rights are modified, including those who “will be paid less than the full value of their claims under the plan,” vote on the plan by ballot, and the court can confirm a plan that gets the required votes and meets the legal tests. That is the baseline: a plan can pay some classes of creditors less than the full amount they are owed.
For shoppers, the statute with the closest wording is the Bankruptcy Code’s consumer-deposit priority. Section 507(a)(7) gives priority to allowed unsecured claims of individuals for money deposited before the case began toward purchasing property or services for personal, family or household use that were never delivered or provided. According to Cornell Law School’s text of the statute, the cap is $1,800 per individual, and the current inflation-adjusted amount, effective April 1, 2025, is $3,800. Priority claims rank ahead of ordinary unsecured claims, but the provision describes deposits for undelivered goods or services. Whether a particular unredeemed gift card fits that description, and how any such claim would be treated under a Leslie’s plan, is for the court and the plan to answer. Nothing read for this article settles it.
The practical difference is between a promise and a ruling. A company that says it will honor cards during a reorganization can usually keep doing so while the case runs. If that policy changes, or if a plan alters how customer obligations are treated, the change would come through the court record rather than a store sign.
Where the case record sits and the next court date
The Kroll site is the official docket portal and lists first-day motions and first-day orders. It carries no gift-card FAQ of its own, and the customer commitments quoted above come from the company’s pages. Kroll does state the next scheduled event: “Final hearing on certain of the First Day Motions will be held on October 27, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. (prevailing Central Time).” Stakeholders can call Kroll’s toll-free line at 844-408-3397, and the case materials there are the place to see whether any motion touches customer programs.
The company’s announcement is dated September 30, and the Kroll case page lists the same petition date. The 76-store figure, the gift-card statement and the Pool Perks statement were all re-read from those company pages on October 4, 2026, and the company’s own wording is what this article reports.
Keeping a paper trail while a retailer reorganizes
The Leslie’s Chapter 11 case, number 26-90795, leaves customer promises on gift cards and Pool Perks resting on the company’s word while the docket moves. Anyone holding a balance, a receipt or a dispute with a company in bankruptcy ends up with records to keep and a creditor-style paper trail to manage.
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This piece was drafted with AI assistance; the figures and statements were checked against Leslie’s own announcement and customer FAQ, the Kroll case page, the U.S. Courts Chapter 11 overview and the Bankruptcy Code text.
