It's bad, I am sorry to hear this - BR is my favorite chain and they have amazingly good apparel at fairly good prices. Their sales are the best and you can get an extra good garment for very reasonable price. I hope that employees keep their jobs and that locations stay open.
I used to work in retail in the 1990s and it was good times, nowadays it does not pay that well and there is a lot of competition from the internet - no wander that a lot of stores are closing. The Gap and Old Navy are also closing stores, so Banana Republic is not the only one.
We'll see what 2017 brings and if the economy will be solid and strong - this may prevent closures and more people can keep their jobs.