KENNEWICK -- Maybe it was sheer coincidence.

Maybe it was a sign.

A money truck parked in front of Joe's Sporting Goods for what looked like the last time.

"Well, now it's time to look for another job," Loy Hibbs said, Store Manager for the Kennewick Joe's Sporting Goods store.

Loy Hibbs and his colleagues found out Tuesday that all 31 Joe's are shutting down.

"It was a shock. We knew there were issues but no anticipated this," Hibb said.

"It was a surprise this morning when we saw it was going out of business," Sharon Patten said, a regular Joe's customer.

Just last month, Joe's filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, with plans to reorganize and stay open.

So what happened?

Hibbs said several bidders offered to buy the store, but liquidators offered the most.

"I think there will be a big impact, a lot of vendors will be affected by this," Hibb said. "There's going to be a big trickle down effect."

We found out clothing companies like Columbia could take a huge hit since Joe's is their largest retailer in the region. Managers also told Action News that their smaller fishing vendors could lose all of their business. Even the Tri City Herald could be affected.

"When we pulled our advertising, they had to lay people off," Hibbs said.

"Sales tax is what we do and it's definitely going to have an impact," Jeff Kossow said, Executive Director of Economic Development for the City of Kennewick.

The City of Kennewick couldn't give exact numbers on that impact, but they're confident other sporting goods stores will pick up the slack.

"It's certainly sad because of the job loss but it doesn't mean we stop," Kossow said. "We've got to keep marketing our community and keep looking."

But it's harder for others in the relatively rural region who look to Joe's for leisurely equipment.

"That's what we came here for: boating, sports," Patten said. "We're going to miss Joe's."

Joe's wasn't a failure. It saw double-digit profit margins. It was the rest of the chain that brought the whole thing down.

Across the northwest, close to 4,000 people will be out of a job.

If there is a small silver lining, this is it: big discounts and sales in the coming week will sell off all the inventory. Managers expect that it should take about a month and a half.

You need to use your gift cards in the next two weeks, since they'll only be honored through april 25th.

The city said it will actively market the building to fill it with a new business.

Joe's was formerly known as G.I.Joe's, founded in 1952 by a former World War II pilot who sold military surplus goods.