Ailing teen clothier Wet Seal has announced 338 stores across the U.S. will be closed, leaving nearly 3,700 employees out of work, the company has announced.

The teen retailer will be left with only 173 stores, together with its online business. Angered clerks and store managers, who were taken by surprise by the announcement, have posted complaints on their stores' windows.

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A store in Birmingham, Ala. had a note posted that the company "lied" about closing shop and gave no warning. In Seattle, an employee complained that vacation and sick days were unpaid. Another sign in a store in Dayton, Ohio said employees were told not to look for new jobs because the store was only being remodeled.

Wet Seal CEO Ed Thomas said in a statement closing the stores was a hard decision, but the company was left with little option due to a severe cash flow problem. The stores to be closed account for nearly half of the company's net sales in the nine months until November 1.

California-based Wet Seal boomed in the 1990s by selling budget, casual clothes for teens. But its fortunes changed in recent years with stiff competition from trendier brands such as Urban Outfitters and H&M.

The company has reported $150 million in losses in the past two years and posted a net loss of $36 million in the third quarter as recorded store sales sunk nearly 15%.

Wet Seal store workers cried foul that they were not warned of the looming closures, they would not receive severance and benefits taken away.

An assistant manager in a Dayton Wet Seal, Victoria, said she and her colleagues were told not to look for jobs and that the store had low inventory because of plans to remodel the store. She helped make one of the signs that went viral on social media.