Liz Claiborne Inc. announced today that Liz Claiborne New York branded outlet stores will close during the next few months.

There is a Liz Claiborne store at Prime Outlets - Calhoun.

"In some cases, stores will remain open through the 2010 holiday season," Sharen Mirell, director of corporate relations, said.

"This was a difficult decision to make and doesn't reflect at all on the wonderful loyalty of our customers," she continued. "The outlet stores were originally created to sell our excess (end of season) Liz Claiborne New York department store-branded merchandise. Now that announcements have been made about our new brand strategy, we no longer need the support of an outlet division."

The Liz Claiborne brand will re-launch this August 2010 in JCPenney stores nationwide.

As of Aug. 3 the company will no longer be enrolling customers in the Liz Rewards loyalty program. On Aug. 9, the program will end and points will no longer be issued during customer transactions.

Customers with outlet store gift cards or merchandise credits can redeem them at their nearest store before it closes.

The company's consumer relations staff can be reached at 1-800-555-9838. They can be reached by e-mail at Consumer_Relations@liz.com. Their office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.