MEMPHIS — Fred’s Inc. announced Thursday it is closing 104 underperforming stores as part of an “ongoing effort to rationalize its store footprint.”

The new round of closings comes five weeks after the Memphis-based company started “going out of business” liquidation sales at 159 stores and follows an evaluation of store performance and timing of lease expirations, Fred’s said in a statement.

“These additional store closures are a difficult, but necessary step in the continued restructuring of Fred’s,” Fred’s chief executive officer Joseph Anto said in the statement.

The liquidation of the 104 stores starts Thursday with stores expected to close by the end of June. Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee are losing the most locations.

Liquidation firm SB360 Capital Partners is handling the liquidation sales for Fred’s.