Leslie’s Pool Supplies closes 13 Southern California stores in bankruptcy

Leslie’s Inc., which opened its first store in North Hollywood more than six decades ago, is closing 76 stores nationwide as part of a bankruptcy restructuring.

The Phoenix-based seller of pool chemicals, maintenance equipment and pool products, said it expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a smaller footprint and stronger financial position in early 2027.

Leslie’s said 13 stores are closing in Southern California, another five stores in the Central Valley and eight in the Bay Area. The closures span some of the state’s most pool-rich communities, including Chatsworth, Cerritos, Diamond Bar, La Crescenta, Lake Forest, Montebello, Palm Desert and Tustin.

To help in the restructuring and shed debt, the Phoenix-based pool retail chain said it has lined up interim financing of $90 million and a cash infusion of $60 million from the sale of company equity.

The company is not going out of business.

“Leslie’s is here to stay,” wrote Jason McDonell, chief executive officer of Leslie’s, in a note to customers.

The company operates more than 900 retail locations across 38 states.

Leslie’s filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sept. 30, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern Distirct of Texas, reporting $722 million in assets and $1.2 billion in liabilities.

In its nine months ending July 4, 2026, the company reported $790 million in sales, a decline of 7.3% compared with nearly $853 million in the prior-year period.

Net losses grew 18.2% to $87.7 million compared with a loss of $74.2 million in the prior-year period.

Also in July, the company withdrew its financial guidance for the full year, citing “macroeconomic softness and the uncertainty around the company’s ability to continue to drive consumer behavior.”

A company spokesperson with Leslie’s was not available for comment.

Leslie’s has deep roots in Southern California and has seesawed between being private and publicly traded over its 60-year history.

Phil Leslie Jr. founded Leslie’s Poolmart in North Hollywood in 1963. With his partner Raymond Cesmat, he built it into a chain of pool supply stores across the Los Angeles area, according to a history of the pool chain.

A private equity and buyout investment firm bought Leslie’s in 1988 and took it public in 1991, according to a federal securities filing. Two private equity firms later took the company private again in 1997. By 2015, the company operated 910 stores nationwide.

In January 2017, an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund became the majority shareholder and oversaw two leadership changes through early 2020. By October of that year, Leslie’s became a publicly traded company again, and continued on a rapid pace of buying regional hot tub retailers.