WASHINGTON — Clothing chain Gadzooks Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday and sought approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas to close about 156 stores as it moves to sell clothes only for girls.

Gadzooks warned in December it might have to seek Chapter 11 protection, and in January it hired advisers and formed a restructuring committee. The company said its conversion to women’s-only apparel hadn’t met its expectations.

As of Tuesday, the Carrollton company had 410 stores in 41 states, mostly in malls. It is liquidating 31 of them, and will start liquidating about 125 additional stores in coming weeks.

It is also cutting 65 corporate jobs.

Sabrina Toner, assistant manager of Gadzooks at Colonial Mall-Temple, said that she had no knowledge of the store closing.

“Our company has been here since 1983,” she said. “We’re a real strong company.”

She said that last summer the Temple store went from male and female to all female clothing, ages 16-25.

“We’ve been doing great since then,” she said.

However, according to an article on the Austin Business Journal Web site, DJM Asset Management LLC — the Melville, N.Y.-based company hired by Gadzooks to close stores — the Temple store has been targeted for closure, while the Killeen store will remain open.