The end is near for Younkers and its parent company, Bon-Ton, after two liquidation firms won the auction to take over the retail chains.Bon-Ton could not find a buyer willing to continue to operate Younkers and the other retail chains Bon-Ton owns.A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday ruled that Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group won the auction and will now take possession of the Bon-Ton stores.Bon-Ton president and CEO Bill Tracy released a statement on the sale, saying, in part, "While we are disappointed by this outcome and tried very hard to identify bidders interested in operating the business as a going concern, we are committed to working constructively with the winning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations."Bon-Ton told Iowa Workforce Development earlier this week that it planned to close seven more stores statewide starting June 5, including the Jordan Creek and Merle Hay mall stores.Federal bankruptcy papers filed by Bon-Ton now show Younkers stores at Valley West and Southridge malls are slated to close, as well as stores in Ames, Fort Dodge and Marshalltown.Closings are also planned for Younkers stores in Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Dubuque, Mason City and Sioux City.The closures affect more than 350 Iowa employees.Younkers has a long and storied history in Iowa. The store was founded in Keokuk in 1856 and soon moved its base to Des Moines.Iowa natives told KCCI that the name alone conjures up many memories."I remember the Rose Room there, and the rarebit burgers they used to make," Windsor Heights resident Michael Gabriel said."Oh, the great sales they had," Des Moines resident Linda Snethen said. "And they had things other stores didn't have then."The original downtown Younkers opened in 1889 and closed in 2005."As a little kid, they used to have an actual person who, I guess you could say, took care of the elevator," Des Moines resident David Woods said. "You climbed on. He shut the doors. He told you what was going up and down on every floor."The location burned to the ground in 2014.Connie Boesen worked as a buyer for the company for 34 years.She recalled being on a buying trip in Chicago during a devastating fire at the old Merle Hay store in 1978, which killed 11 people."It was a tragedy," Boesen said.For Boesen, the Younkers name brings back fond memories of her co-workers. "We were a family," she said. "Many of us, as I call it, 'grew up' together."Boesen said news that Bon-Ton, which bought Younkers in 2006, will liquidate is sad news for the metro institution."I do think for Des Moines, for Iowa, because we were all throughout Iowa, it will be a loss," she said. "It's just some of that heritage that is part of our whole history of Iowa, and they played a large part."