The Limited suddenly shut down all of its stores and laid off thousands of workers

The Limited shut down all 250 of its stores on Sunday and laid off 4,000 workers.

The women's clothing store chain announced the closures in a statement on its website Saturday.

"We're sad to say that all The Limited stores nationwide have officially closed their doors," the statement reads. "But this isn't goodbye. The styles you love are still available online - We're just a quick click away 24 hours a day."

Sun Capital, the private equity firm that owns The Limited, attributed the decision in part to falling foot traffic at shopping malls.

"We have worked very hard and made significant investments over nine years to improve operations and create a sustainable business at The Limited," Sun Capital told Reuters in an emailed statement. "In an increasingly challenging environment for mall-based retail and women's apparel, we are very disappointed that the company has had to make the difficult decision to close its retail locations."

Sears and Macy's, which are also primarily mall-based, have also announced mass closures this year.

Sears is planning to close 150 namesake and Kmart stores this year, and Macy's is planning to close another 100 store- 68 of which were announced within the last week.