After years of losing sales and sellers, iconic homewares brand Tupperware on Sept. 17 filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. At the time of filing, the company faced opposition from new lenders that wanted to acquire Tupperware’s assets via foreclosure or Chapter 7 bankruptcy. According to court documents, the brand held about $811.8 million in funded debt obligations, mostly a single first lien credit facility, along with an $8 million bridge loan.

The brand thrived for decades leveraging a direct-selling model known as Tupperware Parties but missed the boat in recent years as e-commerce and omnichannel retail grew; direct selling now drives just 4% of overall homeware sales, while Tupperware still derives almost 90% of its revenue that way, the brand told the court. The company employs a workforce of more than 5,450 people and has a global salesforce of more than 465,000 sellers in almost 70 countries.

Big Lots filed for bankruptcy protection with a $620 million stalking horse bid on the table from Nexus Capital Management, which would take the company private. Big Lots said it also has commitments for $707.5 million, including $35 million in new financing from its lenders.

The company had been pursuing cost-cutting efforts for some time, including amending its credit and loan terms to allow it to close up to 315 underperforming stores. Although most stores are profitable, CEO Bruce Thorn said bankruptcy will enable the company to further focus its physical footprint, which will enable operational efficiency.

The specialty retailer filed for Chapter 11 protection in bankruptcy court in Delaware in August. At that time, the company planned to close about 100 stores. In September, the company announced that it was unable to find a buyer and that it planned to liquidate and close all stores. 

But shortly after, the company, which was formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, announced that it would actually remain a going concern, having reached an agreement with F9 Investments. 

Under the deal, the private equity firm will acquire 219 LL Flooring locations — about half the stores the retailer operated at the time of its filing — along with intellectual property and other assets. A distribution center in Sandston, Virginia is also part of the deal.

Conn’s Inc. in July filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. 

The retailer planned to wind down its business and close its fleet of about 550 brick-and-mortar stores across 15 states. The company reported having about $530 million in total funded debt obligations.

Conn’s CEO Norman Miller said converging factors contributed to the company’s financial situation, including the decision to acquire rival furniture and home decor retailer W.S. Badcock in 2023. At the time of its filing, Conn’s said it employed about 3,800 people. The company expected to complete store closing sales by Oct. 31.

June 28, 2024

Mexican-based retailer Gonher will acquire most of Sam Ash Music’s assets for $15.2 million. Court documents show Gonher will acquire Sam Ash’s merchandise — excluding its store closing sale assets — its assumed leases, intellectual property elements, trademarks, internet domain names, social media accounts, marketing materials and customer data.

May 8, 2024

After 100 years in business, Sam Ash Music filed for Chapter 11 on May 8 in bankruptcy court in New Jersey. The company planned to close all 42 of its retail stores in 16 states. In court documents, the company said it was heavily dependent on in-store traffic, which tanked when the pandemic hit several years ago. 

Prior to filing, Sam Ash’s liquidity slipped to the point where it started withholding vendor payments. The vendors, in turn, withheld deliveries, which negatively affected in-store and online sales. Sam Ash acknowledged it skipped rent payments for most of its stores in April and May as well.

Although stores are closing, CEO David Ash said the company is looking at a possible sale of Sam Ash’s e-commerce business, wholesale Samson business and intellectual property, led by a stalking horse bid from its lender for most of its assets.

Sept. 2, 2024

U.K. retailer Mountain Warehouse on Sept. 2 said it had inked a deal to acquire Eastern Mountain Sports. The company said it would pay $5 million for the New England retailer’s brand, website and seven profitable stores – its stalking horse bid ahead of a bankruptcy auction – and another $5 million for other assets.

June 6, 2024

After their bank stopped funding their operations, Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob’s Stores, owned by GoDigital Media Group, filed for Chapter 11 protection. Together the chains ran about 50 stores and employed about 800 people when they filed. 

In 2023, EMS and Bob’s generated $131.9 million in net revenue. About $935,000 in wage obligations remained unpaid at the time of filing, along with other outstanding debts, per court documents. As a result, the companies told the court they were in dire need of funds just to make payroll. 

U.K.-based Frasers Group, previously known as Sports Direct, bought the chains in 2017 out of a previous bankruptcy, and sold them to GoDigital five years later.

The parent company of Foxtrot Market and Dom’s Kitchen & Market, Outfox Hospitality, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in mid-May.

During a meeting with Outfox’s board in which the financial health of the company and its subsidiaries was evaluated, the company decided to file for bankruptcy.

The filing came just weeks after Foxtrot and Dom’s abruptly ceased operations. Days before it filed for bankruptcy, Foxtrot’s assets — including inventory, intellectual property, accounts, chattel paper, documents, furniture, fixtures and equipment, and general intangibles and goods — were sold to Further Point Enterprises for $2.2 million. At the time, the assets for Dom’s had not been sold.

For the third time in about two decades, Rue21 on May 2 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This time, the apparel retailer is set to close all 540-plus of its stores; its e-commerce website was already down. The retailer was in expansion mode just a few years ago, adding stores at a time when many retailers were deciding to permanently close some locations shuttered during the pandemic lockdown.

But in court filings in May, the company said it had “suffered operational losses stemming from, among other things, underperforming retail locations, the continued growth of online shopping and industry competition, inflation and macroeconomic headwinds, and difficulties raising capital in an amount sufficient to meet their liquidity needs and fund operations.”

Rue21 previously filed for bankruptcy in 2017, closing about 420 stores at that time, and in 2002, when it was still dubbed “Pennsylvania Fashions.”

Express Inc. filed Chapter 11 in Delaware in April. The company said in court documents it had assets and liabilities ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion and that its top five creditors are collectively owed nearly $70 million. CEO Stewart Glendinning said bankruptcy protection will enable the apparel retailer to strengthen its financial position and advance its business initiatives. 

While Express plans to shutter all of its UpWest stores in bankruptcy, as well as 95 Express stores, the company didn’t provide information about the outlook for its Bonobos brand, which it and WHP Global acquired from Walmart last year for $75 million. The company’s long descent into Chapter 11 is partly a result of its inability to adapt quickly as apparel trends shifted to be more casual in recent years. Analysts said Express lost its brand awareness and relevance with consumers.

After shutting its showrooms in March in what it said was part of an effort to regroup, luxury appliance retailer Pirch in April filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a route to liquidation. The company has between $10 million and $50 million in assets, but those are dwarfed by liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million, according to court documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California. 

Pirch started off selling directly to consumers and won kudos for its high-touch experiential approach. But the company retreated – closing its East Coast locations and pivoting to a professional-facing model that depended on interior designers, builders and other third parties for sales.

In recent months, those professionals, along with customers and others, were hit unexpectedly by nondelivery of orders and showroom closures. American Express has sued Pirch for $33 million and said there are “indications of possible fraud by Pirch that need to be investigated, adding even more urgency for the need to protect the public and grant the relief that Amex is seeking,” according to court documents from that lawsuit.

Number Holdings, the parent company of 99 Cents Only Stores, filed Chapter 11 in April. The retailer said in a statement that bankruptcy protection will enable the company to implement a previously announced wind-down of its business operations. 99 Cents Only said it secured $60.8 million of debtor-in-possession financing, subject to court approval, to complete the liquidation.

After years of challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, rising shrink and changing consumer demand, the company said it was unable to find a way to stay in business. All 371 of the chain’s stores began going-out-of-business sales in April. The company’s owned and leased real estate was also being offered up for sale.

April 30, 2024

Joann exited bankruptcy following court approval in April. The restructuring allowed the company to cancel about $505 million in debt. Under the exit plan, Joann became a privately held company and received $153 million in post-bankruptcy financing.

March 18, 2024

Sewing and crafts retailer Joann, which went public only three years prior, on March 18 filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Business had been brisk during the height of the pandemic, when people were stuck at home with their hobbies, but has fallen off since. Meanwhile, competition in the space has heated up. 

Joann came to court with agreements already forged with its lenders, and a plan to emerge as a private company in less than two months. There’s a transaction support agreement with most of its financial stakeholders and other financing parties, including commitments for $132 million in new funds. As a result, it expects to reduce its funded debt by about $505 million. 

The chain also got a six-month extension of its asset-based loan and first-in, last-out credit facilities, effective once it exits bankruptcy. In the meantime, stores remain open and employees, vendors, landlords, and other trade creditors will be paid, the company said.

On March 8, The Body Shop’s U.S. operation filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which entails liquidation. The move follows the brand’s bankruptcy filing in Canada and the equivalent of a bankruptcy filing in the U.K., known as administration. 

In its filing, The Body Shop’s U.S. arm told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York that its U.K.-based parent hadn’t notified it of its administration and that cash usually sent back to the U.S. to pay vendors and keep the business running had been withheld. A press release from the brand’s Canadian unit said that the U.S. operations ceased as of March 1. These various bankruptcies were all filed just a few months after private equity group Aurelius bought the brand for more than $250 million from Brazilian beauty conglomerate Natura & Co.

Baby care brand Unconditional Love Inc. – which operates under the brand name Hello Bello – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a way to facilitate a stalking horse bid from private equity firm Hildred Capital Management.

The deal with Hildred Capital Management is valued at about $65 million and is subject to better offers. Hello Bello CEO Erica Buxton said in court documents that the brand experienced the negative impacts of higher shipping costs, increased purchase prices and more.

Hello Bello opened its own manufacturing facility to deal with rising costs, but was delayed in realizing the benefits as staffing the space became competitive and there were delays in setting up production lines. 

Bended Page, the parent company of Colorado-based independent bookstore Tattered Cover, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 16. As part of the reorganization, Tattered Cover plans to close three of its seven stores before the holidays and lay off about 27 of its 103 employees. The company plans to offer severance. 

Court documents indicated that the company owed a total of more than $1 million to leading book publishers, including Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House and MacMillan.

On Oct. 16, Z Gallerie commenced its second bankruptcy in less than two years — its third since 2009, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

In court documents, interim CEO Robert Fetterman, who is also the furniture retailer’s chief financial officer, blamed the company’s woes on pandemic-related supply chain and import costs, and the recent housing slump due to spiking interest rates. The retailer is preparing to liquidate, though it still hopes to find a buyer.

Sept. 3, 2024

Rite Aid on Sept. 3 said it emerged from its Chapter 11 process with about $2 billion less in debt and many fewer stores, but also with some $2.5 billion in new financing. Chief Financial Officer Matt Schroeder, a longtime Rite Aid veteran, succeeded Jeffrey Stein as CEO.

Oct. 15, 2023

Retail pharmacy chain Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 15. 

The company said it secured $3.45 billion in new funding from lenders to provide liquidity during the court-supervised reorganization process. The company said in court documents that it has nearly $4 billion in debt and a “sub-optimal retail footprint” of stores that it wants to reduce.

Rite Aid said it has between $1 billion and $10 billion in liabilities and collectively owes its top three creditors – pharmaceutical company McKesson, U.S. Bank Trust National Association and health insurer Humana – more than $1 billion.

The company on Oct. 15 also announced the appointment of Jeffrey Stein as CEO and chief restructuring officer.

Retailer Showfields filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 6 under the Small Business Reorganization Act’s subchapter V. The company had approximately $3,117.58 of cash on hand as of its petition date and estimated liabilities between about $1 million and $10 million.

The department store made the decision after it was “plagued with lower than expected revenue streams” due to low sales before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The move came after Showfields closed some store locations in the U.S., though it noted it is negotiating a potential expansion into Europe.

Soft Surroundings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sept. 11 and will close all 44 of its brick-and-mortar stores. Rival Coldwater Creek will take over its remaining assets in order to sell the brand only via catalogs and online, the company said in a press release and court documents filed with the Southern District of Texas’ Houston Division.

The women’s apparel retailer, which began selling through catalogs in 1999 and opened its first store six years later, has struggled financially since the pandemic hit. Three years ago the company was running 80 stores, but closed some locations since, including 25 last year. Soft Surroundings cited macroeconomic pressures, weakness in the apparel market and rising costs as especially challenging in recent years.

Upscale furniture retailer and maker Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept 6, shortly after abruptly announcing the company was shutting down.

Founded in 1989, Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams was a successful business that employed about 800 people and achieved almost $200 million in sales over the last year. The business included 24 retail stores, an e-commerce site, and six outlet stores. However, since 2021, the company relied on debt-funded operational financing from PNC.

In April, the company had $23 million in outstanding debt. And in July, PNC declared Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams in default of the lending terms. Bankruptcy protection “should allow MG’s brand to survive,” the company’s restructuring officer said in court documents.

As part of a restructuring process within bankruptcy, synthetic biotechnology company Amyris is selling off its stable of consumer product brands. Those include Biossance beauty care, Pipette baby care, JVN and Rose Inc., among others. 

Four brands — Terasana skincare, EcoFabulous, Costa Brazil and Olika— were discontinued ahead of the Chapter 11 filing on Aug. 9. The company hopes to “continue to leverage Amyris’ cutting-edge science and technology” for any of its brands once they’re under new ownership.

Amyris also laid off about 260 employees, after laying off about 148 employees in June. In all, the company’s workforce has been cut about 30%, “to maintain an organization of approximately 1,090 employees to continue operations.”

Premium sleepwear brand Lunya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June. The direct-to-consumer brand cited a mountain of issues leading to the decision in its court filings, including the reversal of COVID-19 pandemic trends such as demand for loungewear and a jump in e-commerce activity.

Among the brand’s growing problems was the fact that it was losing about $135,000 a month for the past year on brick-and-mortar stores. The company had opened seven locations in high-end city districts in order to diversify revenue, but the spaces proved to be too large and costly.

Lunya closed several of its retail stores and entered into bankruptcy with the hopes of right-sizing its balance sheet. The brand is aiming to confirm a reorganization plan and continue “providing its customers with stylish, comfortable and affordable sleep apparel for years to come.”

Despite generating over $203 million in revenue in 2022, shoe retailer Rockport Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June. The company said it had inadequate liquidity to endure any additional economic challenges.

In court filings, Rockport said it had nearly $100 million in funded debt obligations; more than half of that was due in August. The company also reported owing its top five creditors nearly $47 million. Since its founding in 1971, Rockport, which is known for its rubber-soled casual shoes, has gone through several owners, including Reebok, Adidas and a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and New Balance.

Following a 2018 bankruptcy, the company closed its U.S.-based retail stores as part of a reorganization at that time.

Instant Brands, the company behind Instant Pot, Pyrex, CorningWare and a handful of other popular kitchenware and houseware brands, filed for Chapter 11 on June 12, citing tight credit terms and high interest rates that impacted liquidity. That position made the company’s capital structure unsustainable, CEO Ben Gadbois said at the time. 

The company in August received $30 million in new term loan financing from existing lenders. Combined with previous commitments, the company gained access to a total of $162.5 million in financing while in bankruptcy. 

A bankruptcy court in October approved the sale of Instant Brands to private equity firm Centre Lane Partners. The acquisition by Centre Lane Partners will enable Instant Brands to find a path forward, according to the companies. 

Aug. 16, 2023

Christmas Tree Shops’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Aug. 16 was converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation. After failing to find a buyer, the retailer had previously said all stores would shutter.

July 7, 2023

Christmas Tree Shops in July announced it would liquidate its remaining 72 stores after failing to find a buyer in time to satisfy its lenders. The retailer defaulted on a bankruptcy loan and could not meet the lenders’ timeline for selling the company before cutting off funding for the business.

May 5, 2023

Christmas Tree Shops filed for Chapter 11 on May 5. According to federal bankruptcy court filings in the District of Delaware at the time, the home decor, furniture and discount gift retailer had between $50 million and $100 million in liabilities and just $50,000 in assets. The company’s top six creditors were each owed more than $1 million.

The company’s roots go back to the 1950s near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 2003, Bed Bath & Beyond acquired the company, expanding it beyond the Northeast. Bed Bath & Beyond sold Christmas Tree Shops to Handil Holdings, the company’s parent at the time of the filing, in 2020.

The retailer operated 82 brick-and-mortar locations in 20 states. As part of the Chapter 11 reorganization, Christmas Tree Shops will seek court approval to close up to 10 stores.

July 11, 2023 

Both BuyBuy Baby and Bed Bath & Beyond’s stores are slated for closure after no buyers stepped forward to purchase them. Their intellectual property, however, was sold to two separate buyers.

Online-only retailer Overstock.com plans to rebrand itself to Bed Bath & Beyond after buying the bankrupt retailer’s intellectual property, which includes customer and vendor lists and private label trademarks. A bankruptcy judge also approved the $15.5 million sale of BuyBuy Baby’s trademark and digital assets to Dream on Me, a New Jersey-based manufacturer that was a former vendor to BuyBuy Baby.

April 23, 2023

After several warnings that it could file for bankruptcy, Bed Bath & Beyond finally did on April 23. Rather than restructuring, though, the home goods retailer, which was founded in 1971 and was one of the first “category killers” to challenge department stores, is liquidating.

The company, which is loaded with $1.8 billion in long-term debt, has a commitment for $240 million in debtor-in-possession loans to finance its operations. It hasn’t given up looking for a buyer, but efforts to sell itself, which started last year, have been unsuccessful so far, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer Holly Etlin said in a filing.

The DIP financing therefore will most likely facilitate an orderly wind-down of its namesake and BuyBuy Baby businesses.

July 24, 2023

On July 24, David’s Bridal and one of its longtime lenders, Cion Investment Corp., announced they closed a deal for Cion to acquire “substantially all of [David’s Bridal’s] assets.” 

Cion has invested $20 million into the business to fund growth and has assumed certain bankruptcy-related liabilities, per their release. Bank of America will also continue to provide financing through a $50 million revolving credit facility and a $20 million term loan facility.

Thanks to the deal, David’s Bridal will continue operations at up to 195 stores, preserving 7,000 jobs across the U.S.

April 17, 2023

David’s Bridal on April 17 filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, its second bankruptcy in less than five years – a situation informally known as a “Chapter 22.”

The bridal retailer is looking for a buyer and is prepared to liquidate if that search is unsuccessful, according to court filings. Several parties “have expressed potential interest in certain” assets since February, when the company began reaching out to potential bidders, according to a document filed by David’s Bridal CEO James Marcum.

​​In bankruptcy court documents, the company listed its liabilities at between $100 million and $500 million. After administrative expenses are paid, no funds will be available to unsecured creditors, the retailer noted in its filing.

Despite taking “meaningful strides” in its turnaround, the “business continues to be challenged by the post-COVID environment and uncertain economic conditions, leading us to take this step to identify a buyer who can continue to operate our business going forward,” Marcum said in a statement.

Shoe City filed for Chapter 11 in March in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland. All of the company’s 39 stores in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., began going out of business sales and were expected to close by May 31, according to court documents.

The Baltimore-based company began as a family business, Eileen Shoes, in 1949. In 1980, the company rebranded itself Shoe City. In May 2022, Arklyz Group, parent company of rival retailer The Athlete’s Foot, agreed to acquire Shoe City. But the deal never closed and ultimately fell through. Due in part to that failed deal, Shoe City “was never able to regain profitability,” according to bankruptcy court documents.

Shoe City employed about 400 full- and part-time workers at the time of its bankruptcy filing.

May 1, 2023

Less than three months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Tuesday Morning in May announced it would go out of business. The decision follows an April 27 court-approved bankruptcy sale to Hilco Merchant Resources for $32 million.

Feb. 14, 2023

Tuesday Morning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. At the time of its filing, the Dallas-based company said it secured a $51.5 million debtor-in-possession commitment from Invictus Global Management to support the company’s operations during the case.

As part of the reorganization, the company expects to shrink its store footprint by more than half, to 200 locations. Tuesday Morning had nearly 500 stores in 40 states last November and about 6,300 full- and part-time workers at that time. The company previously filed for bankruptcy in 2020. In its 2023 Chapter 11 filing, Tuesday Morning had liabilities and assets of between $100 million to $500 million.

The parent company of Chuck & Don’s, Loyal Companion, Kriser’s and Natural Pawz, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February.

As part of the restructuring, the company plans to exit its Loyal Companion and Natural Pawz brands and shut down its existing stores on the East Coast, Texas and California. The company will continue to run under its Chuck & Don’s and Kriser’s brands. The retailer began liquidating 93 of its stores on Feb. 3.

“This change allows us to create a stronger foundation for our team and our pet parent communities in our core go-forward brands and markets,” Independent Pet Partners wrote on LinkedIn.

Oct. 12, 2023

Party City Holdco completed its restructuring efforts and emerged from bankruptcy, the company said on Oct. 12. The restructuring eliminated nearly $1 billion in debt. The specialty retailer announced at the same time that CEO Brad Weston would step down from his role and President and Chief Commercial Officer Sean Thompson would become the company’s interim CEO.

Jan. 17, 2023

Party City Holdco in January filed for Chapter 11. It’s seeking a $150 million debtor-in-possession loan. A judge on Jan. 18 granted the company immediate access to $75 million of the loan.

The pandemic tanked consumer demand for the company’s mainstay items – costumes, decorations and party favors – when people canceled in-person celebrations. In court documents, Party City said it has liabilities and assets of $1 billion to $10 billion and 10,001 to 25,000 creditors. The company says an “expedited restructuring” would reduce debt and improve liquidity.

Party City has over 800 company-owned and franchised stores. The franchised stores, the company’s Anagram balloon business and subsidiaries outside the U.S. are not part of the bankruptcy case.

April 11, 2023

Roughly three months after filing Chapter 11, beauty company Forma Brands exited bankruptcy by completing a sale to its investor group. The Morphe brand owner also appointed Cliff Moskowitz as its new CEO. Moskowitz previously served as the interim chief executive at apparel brand Outdoor Voices.

“This marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Forma Brands. With new capital and the support of our Investor Group, we are moving forward with the resources necessary to support the execution of our new long-term growth strategy focused largely on our global wholesale and e-commerce operations,” Simon Cowell, president of Forma Brands, said in a statement.

Forma Brands' new owners include Jefferies Finance, funds managed by Cerberus Capital Management, FB Intermediate Holdings and &vest, where Moskowitz is also an operating partner.

Jan. 12, 2023

Beauty accelerator Forma Brands – the owner of Morphe, Playa Beauty and more – filed for bankruptcy one week after announcing the closure of all U.S. Morphe retail locations. The filing included a proposed acquisition deal with lenders in which creditors would provide $33 million in funds to take over its wholesale operations, online platforms and international Morphe retail stores.

In court documents, Forma revealed it has about $868 million of funded principal debt and interest obligations. The company noted that it began experiencing “liquidity and operational issues a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread changes to consumers’ beauty habits and their need to terminate partnerships with certain influencers.”

Sears Hometown Stores filed for bankruptcy in December in the middle of tussling with its parent, TransformCo, also known as “new Sears.” The home goods-focused chain, an offshoot of the once-iconic retail giant, has about 121 stores in 26 states and Puerto Rico, including locations run by independent dealers. That’s down from nearly 500 when “new Sears” reacquired it shortly after its own bankruptcy four years ago.

Bankruptcy became necessary in part because Sears Hometown relies “substantially on TransformCo to provide key products and services,” including inventory, which TransformCo failed to provide, according to a bankruptcy court filing from Sears Hometown CEO Elissa Robertson. In 2019, former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert and his ESL financial firm stymied an effort to liquidate Sears Hometown, replacing two board members and changing its bylaws.

Medly, founded in 2017, sells medical prescriptions online and through stores in seven states, calling itself the “nation's fastest-growing digital pharmacy.” About a year after expanding through its acquisition of Colorado-based pharmacy chain Pharmaca, Medly in December filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, stating in court documents that its “working capital has dissipated to the point where the Company will be unable to continue operations.” 

The company also said it “has contacted potential acquirers to discuss potential acquisitions.” In its filing, Medly lists assets and liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million each.

What you need to know: Olympia Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September after starting a full store liquidation process over the summer. At the time of the filing, CEO Mark Coffey said the company chose to enter bankruptcy in order to retain employees and keep operations going as it wound down its footprint.

The sporting goods chain, which was founded in 1975 in Portland, Maine, once operated over 230 stores, but ran just 35 stores when it filed. All of those stores were set to close by Sept. 30, 2022. Olympia Sports was acquired by private equity firm CriticalPoint Capital through its JackRabbit running specialist business in 2019.

May 1, 2023

On May 1 Revlon said it had assembled a new board that will govern it as a private company while exiting bankruptcy. Directors include former top executives of Bloomin’ Brands, Sephora, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Starbucks and Gap Inc. Revlon President and CEO Debra Perelman will continue in her role and remain on the board.

Revlon’s lenders, including Glendon Capital Management, King Street Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co., Antara Capital, Nut Tree Capital Management, Oak Hill Advisors and Cyrus Capital Partners, own more than 80% of its reorganized equity. 

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in April approved a reorganization plan that allowed Revlon to shed more than $2.7 billion in debt and obtain some $285 million in fresh liquidity.

June 15, 2022

Iconic beauty company Revlon filed for Chapter 11, citing its burdensome capital structure, which includes over $3 billion in debt. It also pointed to struggles with its supply chain and inflation. 

Revlon CEO Debra Perelman, daughter of Ron Perelman, said that the filing would provide a “clearer path for our future growth” as it addresses its capital structure. 

“If executed effectively, Revlon could emerge from bankruptcy with a cleaner balance sheet and a better operating profile, improving longer term business prospects,” David Silverman, retail senior director with Fitch Ratings, said in emailed comments.

With a past history of financial duress exacerbated by the pandemic, Escada America filed for bankruptcy in January with immediate plans to close five locations, or roughly half its footprint.

The company, which is the U.S. retail arm of the Escada women's fashion brand, also blamed inflexible landlords for the need to file. Rather than litigate over leases, the company aims to shed stores and repay creditors while avoiding "a senseless and unnecessary liquidation."

By 2010, some six years after its founding in 2004, Alex and Ani’s wire charm bracelets were a hit, steadily fueling sales for the following five years. But troubles began to brew in 2014, when top executives came and went at a rapid pace, disrupting the jewelry retailer’s momentum, according to court documents filed with the bankruptcy court of Delaware.

Founder and ex-CEO Carolyn Rafaelian, who owned the company until 2012 when she sold a stake to private equity, has agreed to a resolution of her own legal claims against the company and part-owner Lion Capital, pending the bankruptcy court’s approval. Under the agreement, she would also sell her remaining 35% stake, per the court files.

The retailer is swimming in about $127.4 million in outstanding funded debt obligations. The full effect of a 2019 out-of-court restructuring was stymied by a ransomware attack in February 2020 and then the pandemic. Alex and Ani already has a restructuring support agreement with its debt holders and equity sponsors for a financial and operational restructuring, which must be approved by the court, and is looking for a buyer. The retailer plans to keep operations going during the bankruptcy process, including stores “currently open;” about 25 remain closed due to COVID-19. Furthermore, the company says it will look to exit any leases deemed “uneconomic.”

Founded in 2001, The Collected Group brought together three fashion brands: Joie (launched that same year), Equipment and Current/Elliott. Operational woes led to a change in private equity owners in 2018 after KKR converted its debt holdings to equity in an out-of-court restructuring. In the years following, the women’s fashion specialist invested in e-commerce and its wholesale channels, boosting profits. 

But the pandemic landed hard on fashion apparel and brick-and-mortar shopping. Even before filing for bankruptcy, The Collected Group decided to wind down its physical footprint, which included 33 stores at its largest. In filing for bankruptcy, The Collected Group aimed to reduce debt, complete its brick-and-mortar wind-down and restructure around its growing e-commerce business and wholesale.

In early March 2020, Paper Source announced a major expansion after acquiring 30 prime store locations from a fallen rival, the stationery and paper goods specialist Papyrus, as that retailer wound down. Later that month, the world turned on its head as the COVID-19 pandemic sparked stay-at-home orders and mass temporary store closures, including all of Paper Source’s stores. 

The company had been healthy and growing before the public health crisis. But the sales decline for the year led to liquidity constraints as rent bills piled up. In March, the retailer filed for bankruptcy with a plan to close at least 11 stores and sell itself. On filing, it had a credit bid from current lenders to serve as a stalking horse in a proposed Chapter 11 auction of the company.

Belk was among those retailers especially vulnerable when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Saddled with nearly $2 billion in debt, a legacy of a leveraged buyout, the southern department store chain’s liquidity fell by 70% last April. The retailer, while working toward a digital transformation, also is heavily dependent on store traffic; its sales fell 32% between March and December 2020. 

To buttress its finances, the company forged an agreement with lenders that allowed it to shed $450 million in debt, push out maturities, get new capital and let private equity sponsor Sycamore Partners retain majority ownership. The deal, according to the company, hinged on a lightning-quick trip through bankruptcy court. Belk aimed for 24 hours between filing and emerging, reaching out to creditor groups to gain their buy-in. A federal bankruptcy judge signed off on the deal, clearing the way for a speedy exit from Chapter 11 despite alarms raised by the U.S. trustee assigned to the case.

With 66 retail stores, Solstice Sunglasses bills itself as the second-largest specialty retailer of sunglasses in the U.S., focusing on high-end brands like Dior, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade and Ray Ban. 

The luxury boutique said in a press release that it had been hit financially by the COVID-19 pandemic, with sales down more than 50% from 2019 and “limited relief to compensate for stores being closed and shoppers afraid or unable to shop.” 

The company filed for Chapter 11 in February with the aim of reorganizing and emerging from bankruptcy intact as a going concern. Solstice hired RCS Real Estate Advisors to evaluate its lease footprint but did not immediately say if or how many stores it planned to close. At the time of filing, Solstice CEO Mikey Rosenberg said in a statement that his team was “optimistic about reorganization as we continue to see increasing business in our stores as COVID restrictions are lifted and in the new fashions that our vendors are providing.”

Like many retailers since the pandemic began, the U.S. arm of L’Occitane found itself with declining brick-and-mortar sales and expensive leases on the one hand, and rapidly growing online sales on the other. 

The managing director for the beauty brand’s North American region said that its lease obligations amount to $30.3 million annually across its 166-store footprint. With brick-and-mortar sales falling 56.5% year over year in the months between April and December, the burden of those costs ballooned very suddenly. The company, whose parent was founded in 1976 in Manosque, France, filed for Chapter 11 with immediate plans to close 23 stores and restructure around a smaller footprint and its digital business.

Founded in 1956, women’s apparel seller Christopher & Banks specializes in value-priced women’s apparel and targets smaller markets with a pre-bankruptcy store footprint just shy of 450. 

The COVID-19 pandemic took a huge toll, decreasing demand among its core customer and adding stress to its finances. The company was facing eviction from some stores and, in January, defaulted on key loans and the lease on its headquarters. Christopher & Banks filed for Chapter 11 in mid-January with plans to close all of its stores and sell off its e-commerce business. An affiliate of Hilco Merchant Resources, and a lender to Christopher & Banks, emerged as a stalking horse bidder on its digital business.

Created last year out of some of the parts of the liquidated Art Van Furniture, Loves Furniture immediately ran into problems. For one, it was without a permanent logistics hub, with another company picking up Art Van’s Michigan Warehouse. Loves contracted with a third-party logistics company, but said later that shipping issues left its stores less than ready when they opened. 

Issues getting orders to customers deepened the company’s problems, hurting its sales and, with them, its underlying financials. The logistics provider sued Loves after the retailer fell behind on its payments. It filed for bankruptcy in January in hopes of restructuring around a smaller footprint. 

In 2019, Francesca’s shook up its C-suite, hunted for a suitor, went on a cost-cutting mission and planned to shift to a fast-fashion model. Instead of working on a turnaround, however, the retailer spent much of 2020 issuing going concern warnings and permanently closing stores as the pandemic slammed its sales and roiled its plans.

But the pandemic wasn’t it’s only problem. The retailer, which runs smaller-than-average stores, had been struggling for a while as apparel sales growth ebbed and fewer consumers shopped at malls. A day after its bankruptcy filing, the Nasdaq warned its stock would be delisted on Dec. 15 — something Francesca’s wouldn’t appeal since its investors are taking it private.

TerraMar has committed to keeping at least 275 Francesca’s stores open, out of the 558 it was running at the time of its Chapter 11 filing after closing dozens in recent years.

Founded in 1959 as a single store selling organs, Guitar Center eventually became the largest musical instrument retailer in the U.S., with more than 500 stores across its brands. After a private equity buyout, it struggled under its debt load throughout the 2010s.

When the pandemic forced it to close its stores, Guitar Center ran into liquidity problems. After striking a deal with bondholders during the summer, the company forged an agreement with key lenders and equity holders to restructure the company’s debt and capital structure in Chapter 11.

Founded in 1984, Furniture Factory Outlet ran nearly 70 stores in the Midwest and south central U.S. before the pandemic. As the year started, it was making progress on a turnaround, according to its CFO. But the pandemic forced it to lay off 95% of its staff and permanently shutter more than half its footprint amid the financial tumult. Its supply chain has also been upended by the pandemic, hurting its revenue and further constraining liquidity.

Owned by private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, the retailer filed for bankruptcy in November with a $7 million bid to take it over from home goods retailer American Freight.

Century 21 has been a favorite retailer for six decades, especially among New Yorkers. The company’s headquarters and downtown flagship were destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. When it was rebuilt at the site of the devastation, it stood as a symbol of the city’s endurance.

The retailer was an early entrant in the off-price game, opening its doors in 1961 and selling high-end apparel for savvy fashionistas. While the likes of TJX Cos., Ross and Burlington have downplayed or avoided e-commerce in order to preserve their store-based treasure hunts and protect their margins, Century 21 ran a website to reach customers beyond the four states where it operates.

Insurance payments helped the company recover from the destruction in New York 19 years ago, but some $175 million in claims related to the pandemic have been denied, forcing the retailer to close down, according to a statement last week from Century 21 co-CEO Raymond Gindi, a son of the founders.

With support of its lenders through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, going-out-of-business sales have commenced at all stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida and through its website, the company said last week in court documents.

Stein Mart’s downward swing in fortunes over 2020 has been dramatic. After years of declining sales and negative profit, it opened the year with a takeover deal by a private equity firm and an entity controlled by its chairman. But the spread of COVID-19, and the ensuing turmoil in the retail industry and financial markets, threw a wrench into those plans. The deal was nixed, by mutual agreement.

Not long after, Stein Mart added language to its regulatory filings acknowledging it might not be able to survive as a going concern as COVID-19 upended the industry. The retailer did see traffic increases after reopening its stores, and was able to land a $10 million loan from the federal government’s stimulus package.

But events took another downward turn. COVID-19 surged in Texas, Florida and California, along with other states and areas in the U.S. Those three major states account for some 40% of Stein Mart’s stores and led to another crash in finances. Internal projections showed the retailer would soon run out of cash to operate its business.

The retailer filed for Chapter 11 with dim hopes for a savior to come along to buy part or all of its business. Barring that outcome — which even the CEO acknowledges is unlikely given the retail market and past unsuccessful efforts to sell itself — Stein Mart is set to liquidate its stores and sell off any assets of value, including its intellectual property and e-commerce operations.

The oldest department store in the U.S. last year was acquired by one of the newest e-retailers, an online apparel rental site, for $75 million. The tie-up was seen, warily by some, as promising for both — Lord & Taylor stores would provide Le Tote with the singular marketing that only brick and mortar can provide, while Le Tote would bring Lord & Taylor new, younger customers. 

The pandemic, and the temporary closures it forced onto nonessential retailers, ensured that the experiment wouldn’t be given a chance to work, however. Privately owned Le Tote in court documents said it notched about $253.5 million in revenue last year, but in April the company announced layoffs of most its workers at both its namesake company and at Lord & Taylor. 

The company employs 651, and arrived at bankruptcy court with funded debt obligations of about $137.9 million. The real estate arm of previous owner Hudson’s Bay Co. is its largest shareholder, with a 27.6% interest.

Tailored Brands, which owns Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, Moores Clothing for Men and K&G, entered into a restructuring agreement supported by over 75% of its senior lenders. This was after months of warnings from the company that it might have to terminate operations or seek bankruptcy protection due to dramatic sales declines brought on by COVID-19. 

The retailer was struggling prior to the pandemic. Revenues had declined by 5.6% over the past two years, and the company pointed to the casualization of the American office and “the continuing decline in the brick-and-mortar retail industry generally” as primary pain points. 

As part of a go-forward plan, the company expects to reduce corporate staff, the number of retail locations, and its supply chain infrastructure.

A few Ascena brands — tween label Justice and plus brands Lane Bryant and Catherines — along with the very idea of selling to any and all women at all stages of life, came from Les Wexner’s former L Brands empire. Wexner eventually abandoned them, and that vision. Ascena may be finding out why.

The COVID-19 pandemic no doubt sped up Ascena’s restructuring — just a few months ago it denied a bankruptcy was in the cards. But it’s hard to pin its woes on that recent shock alone. Ascena’s original business, Dressbarn, never recovered after encountering headwinds years ago, its newer brands were already in trouble when they were acquired, and the multi-brand nature of the enterprise has been unwieldy for some time. 

The retailer will come out of the process much smaller. Its stable will shrink dramatically, with massive store closures expected (though not yet enumerated). That includes all locations of the Catherine’s plus-size banner, which is being sold to online plus retailer City Chic. With discount brands Dressbarn and Maurices already gone as of last year, the retailer therefore places its hope of a comeback on premium brands Ann Taylor and Loft and plus-size stalwart Lane Bryant. But the challenges it faced before the pandemic — notably the sales declines of those labels and of apparel sales growth more broadly — await.

Founded in 1964 by Robert Anderson, The Paper Store has stayed in the Anderson family ever since and stayed close to its New England home. Now it is looking to sell itself after joining the ranks of other gift specialists to go bankrupt in recent years, including the parent of Papyrus as well as Things Remembered.

The retailer — which sells stationery, jewelry, home decor as well as fashion, sports and other products — blamed its financial distress on everything from the calendar to weather to football to, of course, COVID-19. The Paper Store voluntarily closed its stores in March and kept them closed through key selling periods, including Easter and Mother’s Day. With unpaid rent and vendor payables mounting, the retailer wasn’t able to cut costs deeply enough to stay out of court, even after slashing its workforce down to a skeleton crew. 

In bankruptcy, the retailer hopes a buyer steps up for the company, and quick, to ensure its shelves are stocked ahead of the all-important holiday season. A restructuring adviser to the company said a group that includes one of The Paper Store’s creditors has expressed interest in making a stalking horse bid.

RTW Retailwinds, owner of the New York & Co. banner along with Fashion to Figure, and Happy x Nature brands, was losing sales and closing stores well before the COVID-19 crisis began. But the pandemic put tremendous strain on the apparel seller’s finances and operations. 

With its stores closed and revenue in free fall, RTW went into default with landlords, vendors and its bank, Wells Fargo. In April, its CEO-elect resigned unexpectedly, shortly after being appointed, along with four of the company’s board directors. In June, the retailer said that a bankruptcy was “probable,” and later disclosed it may have to close all of its stores in a Chapter 11 scenario.

When the company did file for Chapter 11 in July, it planned to close “a significant portion, if not all” of its physical stores. It also was evaluating a sale of the company’s e-commerce business and related intellectual property. 

Muji USA was formed in 2006 as a subsidiary of a Japan-based conglomerate that operates retail stores, campsites, cafes, hotels, model house builders and multiple other sectors, selling upwards of 7,000 products. The Muji brand was founded in Japan in 1980 as “an antithesis to the habits of consumer society at that time,” according to Muji USA’s chief restructuring officer, John Bittner, a senior managing director with Mackinac Partners. 

“On one hand, foreign-made luxury brands were gaining popularity within an economic environment of ever-rising prosperity,” Bittner said in court papers. “On the other hand, poor-quality, low-priced goods were appearing on the market and had a polarizing effect on consumption patterns.” Muji became a “critique” of this state of things, with the aim of selling “products that are useful for the customer and maintain an ideal of the proper balance between living and the objects that make it possible,” Bittner added.

Minimalist stores, low prices and an array of products including home goods, beauty, apparel, food and more drew lines to some of Muji’s store openings in the U.S. A New York Times writer once called the retailer’s SoHo store “gloriously affordable.”

By the end of 2019, the U.S. subsidiary had more than 20 stores, and it was in financial trouble after overexpanding and picking high-rent spaces in choice locations. At the end of the year, it had a negative cash balance of $26.5 million in its loan arrangement with its parent, according to Bittner. The COVID-19 pandemic would force the company to close all of its stores, deepening its woes. 

In bankruptcy, Bittner said the company aims to close some stores to rightsize its footprint, restructure its operations and grow its online presence. Muji USA plans to exit bankruptcy within six months.

Brooks Brothers for the last nearly two decades has been run by Claudio Del Vecchio, who appreciates its 202-year-old history and its reputation for style and quality. But in that time, casual wear has become increasingly more acceptable for the white-collar professionals who are its customer base.

The pandemic has tamped down demand further as people continue to work from home, interrupting a turnaround plan that has included seeking a buyer willing and able to provide the necessary resources. That’s still the plan, and analysts say the retailer should be able to easily find a new owner, thanks to brand strength that has endured for more than two centuries despite the upheaval in apparel sales. WHP Global, Authentic Brands Group and Simon Property Group — the latter recently retracted a lawsuit over unpaid rent — have all been named in press reports as potential suitors.

Since its founding in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1972, Sur La Table has grown steadily. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had 126 stores along with a relatively robust e-commerce arm and fast-growing, revenue-generating cooking classes. 

But over the five years leading up to its bankruptcy, the kitchenware specialist suffered revenue declines and a churn of executives. The CEO who authored the company’s first day declaration was the company’s third since 2017. It also had capital expenses from installing commercial-level kitchens for its classes and debt leftover from a leveraged buyout. 

The pandemic crisis deepened Sur La Table’s troubles and brought threats and eviction proceedings from landlords. The company filed with a plan to close more than 50 stores and sell itself to what would be a third private equity owner in nearly 15 years, a deal that would keep the company, including a pared-down physical retail presence, intact.

Founded in 1989, G-Star Raw credits itself with introducing “luxury denim for the streets.” Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company operated 31 stores in the U.S., with a flagship on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. 

Like scores of other retailers, G-Star had to close its stores when the pandemic hit the U.S., and has since determined to reduce its footprint to around seven stores (though that number could change if landlords are willing to swallow “significant concessions”), according to the company’s CEO. Along with the financial pain of the closures, G-Star’s stores suffered “looting during a period of civil unrest” in May and June. 

In bankruptcy, G-Star hopes to pare its footprint and emerge focused on its remaining profitable stores. The company has no secured debt, but rather a revolving credit account with its Netherlands-based parent.

Lucky Brand was one of two denim specialists to file for bankruptcy in a single day in July. Founded in 1990, the brand and retailer eventually grew to have more than 100 stores and 98 outlets in North America. 

As the story goes with so many retailers, debt — leftover from a leveraged buyout years earlier — left the company burdened as challenges mounted on store retail and apparel in particular. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated those challenges. Executive Chairman Matthew Kaness said at the time of filing that the pandemic and its effects have “severely impacted sales across all channels,” and that business has not fully recovered yet. Liquidity strains from store closures related to the pandemic also disrupted the company’s ability to supply its stores with new inventory. 

Lucky Brand filed for Chapter 11 with plans to jettison about a dozen unprofitable stores and sell itself for at least $140 million. Going into bankruptcy it had a bid from licensing conglomerate Authentic Brands Group and one of the operating companies Authentic Brands works with.

Founded in the middle of the Great Depression, the nutrition store chain that would become GNC is no stranger to economic calamity. But, after years of falling sales trying to trim its debt, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic disruption that came with it proved too much to manage outside of bankruptcy.

GNC entered bankruptcy with plans to close up to 1,200 stores. It also had multiple parties willing to take it over. Key lenders agreed to a reorganization plan that would turn over ownership to them. On filing, GNC also had a $760 million offer, agreed to “in principle,” from its largest shareholder, the China-based Harbin Pharmaceutical Group. The alternate plans indicate that multiple parties see value in the retailer’s business and are willing to put up capital to save it.

On a February conference call, executives at Tuesday Morning made no mention of financial distress or bankruptcy. The off-pricer had issues, to be sure. The company posted net losses for three years running and added only modest growth to its top line. But when the COVID-19 crisis hit in March, the retailer — much smaller than peers like TJX Cos and Ross Stores — watched as its sales went to nearly nothing after it closed its stores.

The company called the pandemic disruption an “insurmountable financial hurdle” that forced it into bankruptcy. The company filed for Chapter 11 with hopes of reorganizing around a footprint about a third smaller than its roughly 700 or so stores. Yet Tuesday Morning did not have a negotiated plan with lenders going into bankruptcy court, leaving the ultimate outcome open-ended for now.

Centric’s own brands include Hudson, Robert Graham, Swims, Zac Posen and Avirex. The company also licenses more than 100 well known labels, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica, Hudson Jeans and Under Armour in apparel; Kate Spade, Michael Kors, All Saints and Jessica Simpson in accessories; and Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon and Warner Brothers in entertainment. 

With apparel sales growth down and department stores in decline in recent years, the apparel and accessories brands in particular were no doubt already under pressure when the COVID-19 disease broke out worldwide. 

CEO Jason Rabin said in a statement that the “pandemic disrupted many of our wholesale accounts’ ordering and constrained our cash flow” but also that the agreement forged with the company’s lenders ahead of its Chapter 11 filing positions it for long-term success.

Centric will emerge from Chapter 11 as a private company. 

Debtor-in-possession financing of $435 million will allow it “to operate without interruption throughout the restructuring process,” according to a company press release.

After years of trying to engineer a lasting turnaround with mounting losses and constant sales declines, bankruptcy speculation turned into bankruptcy reality for the 118-year-old retailer. Executives painted a picture of a company on the mend until the COVID-19 crisis hit, but J.C. Penney’s challenges were numerous, hefty and persistent well before the pandemic.

Still, the pandemic hurt. According to the company’s CFO, sales in April were down 88% year over year and store sales approached zero as Penney closed its stores temporarily while the pandemic spread through the U.S. It also derailed talks with lenders that may have helped it manage its balance sheet outside of a court process.

The retailer filed for Chapter 11 with support from key lenders for a plan. But even that pre-negotiated plan allows for multiple outcomes: re-organization with debt relief, a potential sale, or liquidation if the company can’t agree on a go-forward business plan with key lenders in July or if it can’t win third-party financing as it preps an exit. Even so, executives project optimism about the retailer’s future, saying Chapter 11 will allow it to make good on turnaround plans and unveiling plans to reduce Penney’s store footprint by nearly a third.

After a booming third quarter, Stage Stores went into a financial tailspin shortly after the year started. Its holiday sales fell below expectations, perhaps by a lot. The missed targets led to a liquidity crunch, as well as layoffs, store closures and diminished plans for its conversion to an off-pricer.

The owner of the Bealls, Palais Royal, Peebles, Stage and Goody’s department stores announced last year it would convert its remaining stores to its Gordmans model. That was based on encouraging data from stores it had already converted to Gordmans. But the holiday shortfall wrecked those plans. The company at one point considered a store footprint 200 stores smaller than what it planned as recently as the fall, sources told Retail Dive earlier this year.

Stage Stores closed its stores this spring after the COVID-19 crisis hit, squeezing liquidity further and acting as the “proverbial ‘nail in the coffin,’” the company’s chief restructuring officer said later in court papers. Wells Fargo also reduced the retailer’s available borrowings under its revolver; meanwhile Stage Stores was hunting for new capital. But none materialized in time.

The retailer filed for bankruptcy with plans to liquidate its business entirely, unless a buyer steps up by June to buy the company and keep it operating.

The Canadian Aldo Group shoe seller runs 429 stores and has 3,300 employees in the U.S. The company’s vice president of finance, David Galarneau, called the U.S. “instrumental in the company’s climb to recognition,” with its first store opening in the country in 1993. 

But both the parent company and U.S. business have been in decline. Aldo U.S. posted a net loss of $52.8 million for the 12 months ending February. The company had a plan to turn around by paring its physical footprint in favor of e-commerce and replacing and buffering working capital with an asset-based lending structure.

But the COVID-19 crisis derailed those efforts, forcing stores to close and bringing with it both sales declines and production delays in China. Galarneau said that without immediate financial help in bankruptcy, Aldo would be out of cash by the first week of June.

In bankruptcy, Aldo hopes to restructure its debt and operations, including through store exits. The U.S. is such an important component of its turnaround effort that Galarneau said in court papers that the parent would not be able to survive if it cannot restructure Aldo U.S.’s debt obligations.

Thanks to an albatross of debt from two rounds of private equity buyouts, it’s been difficult for Neiman Marcus Group to invest in innovations the way Nordstrom or even Macy’s have in recent years. The department store sector in general has been down in the dumps for years now, putting any player with extra burdens like that at particular disadvantage.

Still, the century-old Dallas-based retailer has maintained fierce loyalty among some very high-spending customers. And, thanks to a virtual styling service that has helped stoke online sales, the retailer rakes in 30% of its sales from online, even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Mytheresa business, however — the subject of much contention in recent years — isn’t part of the Chapter 11 process and “will continue to operate independently,” the company said.

The company runs 67 stores across the U.S., including both department store names, so it isn’t over-stored like some rivals, according to one bankruptcy document. But one of its creditors would nevertheless like to shutter as many as 29 stores, as part of a proposed merger with Saks Fifth Avenue, another luxe department store, if one with a somewhat different clientele.

The disease outbreak presents further challenges, including signs of weakness in luxury. After declining by about 25% in the first quarter, the global luxury market is expected to slow further, and could contract 20% to 35% this year, according to Bain and Co.

Burdened with debt from a private equity buyout, preppy mainstay J. Crew was a bankruptcy risk for years before the COVID-19 crisis hit. Moreover, some observers say the apparel seller had made several style and quality missteps in its merchandising that hurt its brand.

The pandemic appears to have been too much for the retailer to manage without help from a court, especially after the crisis derailed an IPO effort for Madewell, which could have provided much-needed debt relief. The company’s COO, Michael Nicholson, said that the company projected a $900 million decline in sales after closing its stores in March. “Though many companies across all industries faced hardships and tumultuous market conditions, [J. Crew was] uniquely and severely impacted as a customer-facing retailer in an already struggling industry,” Nicholson said.

The company filed for Chapter 11 in early May with negotiated plans to convert around $1.7 billion in debt to an equity stake in the company, which would turn control over to lenders. J. Crew is also exploring its store footprint, which numbered about 500 stores at the time of filing. As part of J. Crew’s bankruptcy plan, the fast-growing Madewell brand will stay with the company.

Last year, the bulk of Canadian outdoor apparel retailer Roots’ stores in the U.S. racked up a CA$6 million loss. The challenges only steepened with COVID-19 as Roots shuttered all of its North American stores.

The parent company decided to pull the plug on Roots USA Corporation, putting it in Chapter 7 bankruptcy with plans to close seven stores in the U.S. That includes locations in Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and a pop-up in New York.

Roots hasn’t given up entirely on the U.S. market, though. The company said that it “believes a principally eCommerce-based distribution in the near-term is the best approach to continuing to serve its loyal U.S. customer base.” The Canadian parent also took ownership of two U.S. stores in Utah and Michigan with plans to keep them in operation. Those stores in particular “play important roles in the Company’s heritage and have well-established customer bases,” Roots said.

Even before the spread of COVID-19 forced True Religion to close its 87 stores, the denim specialist’s sales were in decline and its profits were negative. After shuttering its footprint in response to the pandemic, 80% of its sales disappeared, according to the company. 

The retailer filed for Chapter 11 seeking new financing and court protection from its rent obligations for 60 days while its stores remained closed. The bankruptcy was True Religion’s second since 2017, when it filed in an effort to ease its balance sheet of debt left over from a private equity buyout. 

The company’s interim CFO said True Religion planned to open “many” of its stores “as soon as practical.”

Founded in 1889, Modell’s spent the early months of 2020 trying to negotiate deals with landlords and vendors to stave off bankruptcy. The retailer hired RBC Capital Markets to pursue a sale of the sporting goods retailer in January, and while the firm reached out to 14 strategic buyers in recent weeks, and had a “potential bidder” for the company in hand, negotiations fell apart March 10, and a day later the retailer filed.

In late February, the company announced it would have to close 19 stores unless it could “appropriately restructure the leases,” and CEO Mitchell Modell announced he would offer a minority stake in the business to an interested buyer. That didn’t happen, and the 19 closures turned into a chain-wide liquidation as Modell recognized it would provide “the greatest recovery for our creditors.”

Modell’s pointed to a number of factors that influenced its path to bankruptcy, including the shift to e-commerce, competition from big-box and specialty players, and a series of unfortunate short-term events.

Art Van Elslander opened the first Art Van location in Detroit in 1959 and eventually grew his business to be one of the leading furniture retailers in the Midwest. However, as competition grew in the space from both online retailers like Amazon and Wayfair, as well as from mass merchants, traditional furniture retailers like Art Van lost market share. Under “extreme market conditions and faced with limited liquidity,” the furniture retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware.

The founder sold his company to private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners in March 2017, and later that year Art Van Furniture acquired Pennsylvania-based companies Levin and Wolf.

Aside from a going-concern sale of 44 stores and two distribution centers under its Levin and Wolf banners, the retailer — which also operates Art Van, Art Van PureSleep and Scott Shuptrine Interiors — will close all of its locations through going-out-of-business sales.

Bluestem Brands’ direct-to-consumer business spans seven brands, two million customers, multiple categories, and various channels, including online, direct mail and telephone. Holdings include the Appleseed’s, Blair, Draper’s & Damon’s, Gettington, Fingerhut, Haband and Old Pueblo Traders brands.

Ahead of bankruptcy, the company faced tightening trade terms with suppliers as it struggled financially. That was exacerbated when S&P Global downgraded the company, with analysts citing “our expectation that the company’s operating performance will remain weak amid continued pressures in the retail industry, and our view of liquidity as less than adequate.”

The retailer’s liquidity was also hurt by high debt payments and a weak fourth quarter, a restructuring adviser said in court papers. It filed for bankruptcy with an agreement from Cerberus Business Finance for $125 million in debtor-in-possession financing. Cerberus was also a pre-bankruptcy lender and behind the entity BLST Acquisition Company, which has made a $300 million bid for Bluestem to keep it operating as a going concern, and which would set the baseline for an auction, if one is needed.

Following nine consecutive quarters of sales declines, Pier 1 in February filed for bankruptcy. The home goods retailer in January announced plans to close up to 450 of its stores, and upon its filing, said it would close its Canadian operations entirely, which would leave it with about 540 locations in total.

The company has commitments for approximately $256 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Bank of America, Wells Fargo National Association and Pathlight Capital to help fund it through bankruptcy. Pier 1 also set up a process to sell itself, in whole or in parts, to bidders in bankruptcy. 

Over the years, Pier 1 lost market share to competitors like Wayfair, TJX’s HomeGoods and mass merchants.

After trying to negotiate with landlords for concessions, the parent of the Papyrus, Paper Destiny, American Greetings and Carlton Cards retail stores threw in the towel and opted to liquidate. 

Founded in 1950 by Marcel and Margrit Schurman, the Schurman group started out as an importer and wholesaler on the principle that there was a U.S. market for “greeting cards and stationery that intersected with the world of fine art,” a restructuring officer for the company said in court papers.

But debt from a poorly-timed expansion — ahead of a major decline in mall traffic — as well as capital costs and financial tensions with a major supplier overpowered the retailer. After quietly initiating a full-scale liquidation, it entered Chapter 11 with plans to close its 200-plus stores.

Founded in 1982 as a catalog retailer catering to professional women in need of maternity clothes, Destination Maternity became a leading player in a niche market. But declines in the U.S. birth rate and expanded competition, along with mall traffic declines, knocked nearly a third off the retailer’s top line. 

As it tried to turnaround, the company burned through five CEOs in as many years — each bringing his or her own strategy vision — and went through a bruising board fight. With liquidity drying up, the company put itself on the market this fall and found some interested parties. 

But Destination Maternity couldn’t find a savior in time to stave off a full financial meltdown. By October, finances were so tight the retailer stopped paying rent on all locations and held back vendor payments. In Chapter 11 now, it plans to continue marketing itself and is eyeing a December auction for the business. 

A bankruptcy filing for the fast-fashion retailer has been rumored for months, with the company reportedly hiring restructuring advisers in June. Some operations abroad, including in Mainland China, Taiwan and France, were shuttered even earlier. For years, Forever 21 was a fast-fashion juggernaut, doubling down on its cheap prices in 2014 with an even cheaper offshoot, churning out trendy looks that were here today, gone tomorrow.

But the company appears to have missed out on two key trends. In an era when sustainability is gaining traction among apparel consumers, Forever 21 has done little to appeal to them. And it bet heavily on brick and mortar rather than e-commerce; The company first launched online in 2005, and now some 16% of its total sales come from there, according to court documents.

The company has obtained $275 million in financing from existing lenders with JPMorgan Chase Bank as agent, plus $75 million in new capital from investment firm TPG Sixth Street Partners. But its troubles center around more than finances or channels, according to GlobalData Retail Managing Director Neil Saunders. “The long-term survival of Forever 21 relies on the chain creating a sustainable and differentiated brand,” he said in emailed comments. “This is something that will be very difficult to accomplish in a crowded and competitive sector.”

Since April, Fred’s has been shuttering stores at an accelerated rate, with successive announcements totaling over 430 closures. That represented most of the Southern discount and drugstore retailer’s footprint.

Fred’s had tried to turn itself around by focusing on higher-margin private label products, reducing SKUs, expanding its alcohol offering and tightening its budget. It has laid off hundreds of employees and sold major assets, including its specialty pharmacy business. But it wasn’t enough to stabilize its spiraling finances.

Fred’s filed for Chapter 11 in September with plans to close all stores, liquidate its operations and sell off its remaining pharmacies (about 170 in all).

Avenue Stores went into bankruptcy with a plan to wind down all of its remaining 222 stores and sell its e-commerce operation. The filing came after the company, unbeknownst to employees and customers, opted to wind down its physical footprint and held a quiet auction for liquidators to run the going-out-of-business sales. 

The plus-size women’s apparel retailer was formed more than 30 years ago from the spin-off of Limited Brands’ combined Lerner Woman and Sizes Unlimited units. After spinning off from Limited, it was acquired by Redcats USA, filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and then bought out of bankruptcy by private equity firm Versa Capital Management.

Five profitable years followed. But new competition in the plus-size space from mass merchants and fashion stalwarts cut into sales while discounting, dwindling traffic, e-commerce and debt took their toll on the company. 

A little over one year after A’gaci exited its first Chapter 11, it found itself back in bankruptcy court again. However, this time around the retailer has the intention of closing all of its stores. 

The San Antonio-based retailer began going-out-of-business sales in early August shortly after filing under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas San Antonio Division.

At the time of its filing, A’gaci said it expects the majority of store closings to be completed by Aug. 31. 

Just prior to the retailer filing, it shut down its e-commerce operations, and updated its return and exchange policies. This came as social media users buzzed about notices and locked doors at several of A’gaci’s physical store locations in Texas.

In documents filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Barneys revealed that all the stores closing have historically operated at a loss. Furthermore, the company has been short on cash and “operating without sufficient liquidity throughout the summer.” The retailer attempted to work with landlords to reduce rents on its properties, which it pointed to as one of the reasons behind its current financial troubles.

The company also pointed to problems with sales performance from February to June this year, which decreased revenue by $34 million.

Prior to filing Chapter 11, the company was attempting a sale. The retailer has until October to find a buyer or it may liquidate.

A little over a year after exiting Chapter 11 on its first go around, Charming Charlie filed for bankruptcy again in July, this time with plans to wind down and close all 261 of its remaining stores.

The retailer’s CFO said “onerous” leases, issues with inventory and vendors, and the continuing slowdown in brick-and-mortar retail left it unable to support its capital and cost structure.

Founded in 2004 by Charles Chanaratsopon, the retailer made its name largely by its approach to merchandising, grouping products together by color and pricing them between department stores like Macy’s and teen retailers like Claire’s.

Going out of business sales at the accessories and apparel retailer are expected to yield $30 million in revenue. At the time of filing, the company had 856 full-time and 2,486 part-time employees.

Z Gallerie is a home decor retailer headquartered in Los Angeles with 76 stores nationwide, operating in a space that’s sitting in the midst of disruption. Subject to court approval, the business will have $28 million debtor-in-possession financing from secured lender KeyBank National Association.

Outside of the announced 17 store closures, Z Gallerie is expected to keep physical locations and its website open and operational through the duration of bankruptcy processes, pending funding approval by the courts. Court documents state that the retailer estimates up to $500 million in assets.

Diesel USA is a subsidiary of its parent company, Diesel S.p.A. Along with 28 stores, the business has wholesale partnerships with a variety of retailers including Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue and Amazon.com, among others.

The company cited a number of factors that led to its bankruptcy filing, including a decrease in wholesale orders, a dramatic decline in net sales and instances of theft and fraud. Prior to filing the retailer attempted to renegotiate leases with landlords and will not pursue the renewal of leases on a number of underperforming locations. According to the filing, “closing certain expensive, long-term, and underperforming stores as well as obtaining relief from other burdensome executory contracts is crucial to its ability to continue operating.”

Diesel USA has additional plans to revamp its e-commerce platform and grow wholesale operations.

The discount shoe company spent last year closing down some 900 stores and cutting jobs at its headquarters after emerging from bankruptcy late in 2017. That plan was agreed to by lenders, which at that point largely owned the company. Without a buyer in sight, though, the business now is mostly disintegrating, and its wind-down has been swift so far. The retailer operates about 3,400 stores in more than 40 countries, a footprint that Stephen Marotta, appointed last month as the company’s chief restructuring officer, said in a statement contributed to its demise, and is closing a massive number of them — nearly half the store closures that Coresight Research recently estimated the U.S. would see this year.

“We expect all stores to remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May,” a spokesperson told Retail Dive in an email. “This process does not affect the Company’s franchise operations or its Latin American stores, which remain open for business as usual.”

As Things Remembered prepped for bankruptcy, it was also apparently working out a deal that could preserve at least some of its retail operations and jobs — the company otherwise reportedly faced the closure of most of its 400 stores. The retailer announced the sale and the filing the same day.

It was a close call for the 40-year-old retailer, which was acquired in 2012 by private equity firm Madison Dearborn from two other PE firms. Madison Dearborn exited that investment in 2017, the firm last month told Retail Dive in an email. Like many PE-backed retailers, Things Remembered, which last year attempted to boost sales through an Amazon storefront, is burdened with debt, which Reuters last month pegged at about $120 million. Leadership has also been upended more than once, as several top employees have come and gone in recent years, according to the LinkedIn pages of past executives.

As a mall-based, teen apparel retailer owned by private equity (acquired by Advent International in 2009 in a $380 million take-private buyout), Charlotte Russe joins other embattled retailers hampered in a turnaround. Already under pressure to notch sales, the debt level creates a situation that “doesn’t work,” according to Greg Portell, lead partner in the global consumer and retail practice of strategy and management consulting firm A.T. Kearney.

″[T]hese aren’t companies whose growth will outpace debt service,” he said in comments emailed to Retail Dive, adding that it’s a distraction from their basic task of retailing. “While it’s true that consumer preferences are changing, successful retailers are those that can adapt to those tastes and curate goods and experiences consumers value. Retailing is not an easy exercise. Beyond the financial aspect, it requires talented merchants, skilled store labor and an inspirational vision.”

Even less hobbled retailers are struggling to keep up with disruption in the sector, but those like Charlotte Russe, distracted by their financial difficulties, including their real estate, are destined to fall even further behind. “Beyond the financial aspect, it requires talented merchants, skilled store labor and an inspirational vision,” Portell said. “Without those attributes, retailers will struggle. Without bold action, the retail landscape will continue to be scattered with bankruptcies.”

Plus-size apparel retailer FullBeauty announced in early January that it was expecting to file Chapter 11. In a surprise move, the company filed and received approval on a restructuring plan in 24 hours. The company agreed to turn over control to its lenders and slashed $900 million in debt, according to court documents.

In between filing and receiving approval for the restructuring plan, U.S. Trustee William Harrington filed an objection, stating that they company was rushing through the Chapter 11 too quickly. Those objections were overruled.

After months of rumor and speculation, Gymboree filed its second bankruptcy in as many years in mid-January. Through the Chapter 11 process, the children’s retailer is shedding its unsuccessful brands, something a few analysts were surprised didn’t happen during the retailer’s last bankruptcy, and plans to sell the still-relevant Janie and Jack brand, as well as the IP and online platform for Gymboree. CEO Shaz Kahng noted in a statement that the retailer would be using the bankruptcy process to “preserve” the Janie and Jack brand, despite having to let go of both its namesake brand and the lower-priced Crazy 8 brand.

In its second life, Gymboree faced intense pressure from rivals like The Children’s Place, as well as from big-box retailers like Target and even discount players like T.J. Maxx. The retailer also pointed to Gap as a direct competitor and noted that its secondary competitors are selling clothes “at increasingly cheaper prices.” Competition impacted the amount of traffic the retailer received, which led to discounting and slimmer profits, per court documents, and the consumer shift to online didn’t help either.

Shopko is in the middle of an unfolding story about debt and assets. In December it was announced that the Midwestern retailer was closing 39 stores shortly after Debtwire revealed that the retailer was exploring restructuring. A few weeks later, pharmaceutical drug supplier McKesson Corporation filed a lawsuit alleging that Shopko owed the company $67 million after it “would not commit to any future date on which Shopko would be able to make payment,” according to court documents. By mid-January the retailer filed for Chapter 11, announced additional store closures and obtained $480 million in financing from lenders to continue business operations throughout the bankruptcy process. Walgreens then won 63 stores during an auction of the retailer’s pharmacy assets.

The court documents originally filed by McKesson allege that the retailer, “ceased making payments to multiple other vendors,” and “has stopped paying numerous other creditors.” McKesson declined further comment on those allegations.

Making and selling bedding has become a nightmare in the U.S. as disruptive material and sales innovations from bed-in-box startups like Casper continue to undermine traditional store-based mattress sales in the U.S. Innovative Mattress Solutions, which runs the Sleep Outfitters, Mattress Warehouse and Mattress King brands, is hardly alone: Ubiquitous retailer Mattress Firm is in the process of shuttering some 700 stores after filing Chapter 11 last fall.

IMS has significantly fewer stores — all told its banners operate 142 specialty sleep retail locations, primarily in the southeastern U.S. — and last year contributed less than 2% of the Tempur Sealy’s global net sales. Still, Tempur Sealy CEO Scott Thompson earlier this month called the businesses retail footprint “overextended” and its capital structure “thin,” with neither “designed to effectively respond to the competitive pressures of the recent retail environment.”

While legacy businesses in the market count sheep, the disruptors are busy counting sales. Leader Casper started off last year with plans to open its first standalone store and has expanded that to plans for 200 across North America after inking deals with Target and Nordstrom. Rivals Tuft & Needle, Leesa, Nest and Purple have partnered with legacy retailers and Amazon, which itself moved into the space last year with its own affordable and premium mattress options.

The first weekend after the new year began, Beauty Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with Hilco Merchant Resources for the sale of its operating assets. At the time of the filing, the retailer owed $6.9 million on a secured loan and $11 million in unsecured debt to suppliers and landlords.

Just before filing, the retailer had announced the closure of 25 stores, which it plans to liquidate through Chapter 11. The retailer plans to sell the remaining 33, though CEO Caryn Lerner noted at the time that all stores remained open and that the company’s objective was to “emerge from Chapter 11 in a stronger position and move forward as a successful brand.”

Among other things, the company pointed to an unsuccessful brand repositioning attempt, which caused it to open 11 new format store locations between 2014 and 2016 and led to significant operating losses as those stores underperformed. The story comes at a time when many beauty retailers are performing well, and startups like Glossier and Birchbox are making ever more ambitious moves into the space.

With over 65 years of experience, David’s Bridal was once a leader in the wedding apparel space. Now the retailer is struggling to keep up with a changing industry.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 19 and announced a restructuring process that includes $60 million in secured financing and a $125 million asset-loan to keep stores open. In a video on the company’s website, CEO Scott Key assured customers that all 300 locations will continue operations and orders will be delivered as promised.

Even though David’s Bridal claims to sell one-third of U.S. bridal dresses, the company has faced a steady increase in apparel competition. The casualization of weddings, positioning itself at a mid-range price point and the need to invest in larger digital capabilities has also dimmed the retailer’s effectiveness. “Bridal retail is a difficult segment,” said Raya Sokolyanska, VP senior analyst at Moody’s Corporation, in an interview with Retail Dive. “It was always a tough business to run, but is now tougher.”

Sears has been bleeding money and customers for years. Its Chapter 11 filing, when it came, surprised no one, except perhaps by its timing. The company has beaten bankruptcy speculation in the past as former CEO Eddie Lampert (and majority owner) loaned the retailer hundreds of millions out of his hedge fund, ESL Investments. Lampert also kept Sears afloat through asset sales, store closures and thousands of layoffs meant to ease Sears’ bottom line.

In 2018 alone, Sears borrowed millions from Lampert’s fund, ESL Investments, closed more than 200 stores, laid off hundreds of corporate employees, refinanced debt, cut a deal over its private label credit card that brought in millions and contemplated a sale of the Kenmore appliance brand and home services unit to Lampert and ESL.

But, in the end, it wasn’t enough to keep Sears out of bankruptcy court. When it filed, Sears said it expected to close an additional 142 stores by the end of the year and reorganize around its remaining profitable stores (which numbered at about 400, according to the company’s chief financial officer) and sell them as a going concern. Meanwhile, Lampert’s ESL is in talks with the retailer about a bid for those stores.

Mattress Firm (owned by Steinhoff International Holdings) filed for bankruptcy Oct. 5 with a plan to close 700 underperforming stores, 200 of which were slated to close just days after the company filed Chapter 11.

In an increasingly competitive market, Mattress Firm had been facing challenges from e-commerce startups like Casper (which have won over customers with lower prices, convenient delivery and playful marketing), not to mention working through the loss of key supplier Tempur-Pedic, which stopped selling at Mattress Firm in 2017 after contract negotiations fell through, and filed a lawsuit in August claiming Mattress Firm was selling “confusingly similar” products to its own. The retailer was also carrying the weight of an 11.2% drop in revenue in fiscal 2017.

Mattress Firm entered bankruptcy with a restructuring plan, under which the retailer hopes to shed unprofitable stores and improve its product offering. The company also released projections for profits of $200 million by fiscal 2020, assuming that 40% of the sales it’s losing from closed stores will be recaptured by nearby Mattress Firm locations.

Founded in 1891 in San Francisco, Samuels Jewelers in August notched its fourth trip to Chapter 11 in just over 25 years. Now headquartered in Austin, Texas, the retailer runs more than 120 stores in the U.S. as well as an e-commerce site. A couple years after its most recent trip through Chapter 11, in the early 2000s, the jewelry seller was bought out by Indian company Gitanjali Gems, whose chairman has in recent years become the target of a criminal probe in India for allegedly defrauding multiple banks in the country, according to a bankruptcy filing.

That was just the latest twist in a harrowing couple of years for Samuels, which has seen declining sales and widening operating losses (to the tune of $14.9 million for its most recent fiscal year). Ahead of filing for Chapter 11, the retailer won an agreement for bankruptcy financing as well as an agreement with liquidation firms Gordon Brothers and Hilco to sell excess inventory in order to pay off debt. Meanwhile, a representative for the company said in court papers that Samuels hopes to sell itself as an operating business during the court process.

The owner of the Fallas chain of discount stores suffered financial setbacks from certain underperforming stores, exacerbated by severe weather in various regions, including by Hurricane Maria, resulting in what it called “prolonged, temporary closure of damaged stores and loss of revenue.” Before filing for Chapter 11, the company said it also suffered further financial losses from its acquisition of Conway Stores and from a data breach.

CEO Michael Fallas said in a release after filing that the retailer was “historically a profitable company” and was committed to returning to profitability and financial help through the Chapter 11 process. “Our goal is to emerge a reorganized Company poised to compete in an evolving industry so that we can continue to serve the communities where we are rooted,” he added. The company also said it was working with creditors and vendors to hash out a reorganization plan in bankruptcy.

Known for its oddball electronics, gifts, travel gear and other assorted doodads, Brookstone has faced the same foot-traffic problems as other mall chains. 

The company filed for Chapter 11 on Aug. 2 with plans to sell itself and close all 101 remaining mall-based stores in bankruptcy “following continued deterioration of traditional retail mall traffic.”

As Brookstone winds down its mall presence, it plans to restructure around its 35 airport stores as well as its e-commerce and wholesale businesses. Brookstone CEO Piau Phang Foo said those three businesses are “operating successfully and should prove attractive to a buyer with the financial resources and vision to carry our company into the future.” To fund it through Chapter 11, Brookstone secured agreements to $30 million in bankruptcy financing from Wells Fargo and Gordon Brothers.

Brookstone began as a direct marketer, placing its first advertisement for “hard-to-find-tools” in Popular Mechanics in 1965. After growing a catalog business, Brookstone opened its first brick-and-mortar store in New Hampshire in 1973. In 2014, the retailer was nearly sold in Chapter 11 to the parent of Spencer’s, a fellow seller of unique (and amusingly nonessential) wares. Instead, it went to a joint venture between the China-based firms Sailing Capital and Sanpower Group for $174 million.

Since its founding in 1971, the comfort footwear brand Rockport Group has changed hands several times, moving from Reebok to Adidas to New Balance and Berkshire Partners,who in turn sold it to a group of the company’s lenders.

After playing for decades in the bruising and competitive footwear space, the company went through a series of supply chain mishaps that wreaked havoc on its balance sheet and operations. Rockport filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a plan for private equity firm Charlesbank to take over ownership of Rockport’s global wholesale assets, e-commerce platform and retail operations in Asia and Europe. It would also have the option to take over the company’s North American retail operation and keep open stores it wanted, while using Chapter 11 to close unwanted stores.

At the time of filing, Rockport operated eight full-price and 19 outlet stores in the U.S. and had $287 million in debt liabilities.

The department store doldrums took their toll on Nine West. The company — which was founded in the 1970s by Jerome Fisher and Vince Camuto, who had the idea of manufacturing shoes on the cheap overseas and selling them in New York at lower prices — made 80% of its sales as a wholesaler. Unfortunately, Nine West made many of those sales to department stores, including Bon-Ton, Sears and Macy’s — one of which is bankrupt, another has been teetering on the edge of financial disaster for years and the other is in relatively healthy shape but still closing stores by the dozens.

For years the women’s fashion retailer and wholesaler has been losing market share amid softening apparel sales and competition from e-commerce players. Nine West in 2016 got a reprieve from its lenders in order to help it ride out the holidays in preparation for 2017. Also that year, sources told Bloomberg that restructuring firms had approached Nine West with proposals to reduce its debt. In May last year, the company announced it had retained investment bank Lazard to evaluate a long-term capital structure solution

Last year, the brand’s customer loyalty started to waiver dangerously, according to data from mobile marketing platform inMarket emailed to Retail Dive. Except for a slight rebound in October, loyalty continued to decrease in the third quarter, and has edged down slightly each month, including during the holidays.

Nine West entered Chapter 11 with $1.6 billion in debt and a $200 million stalking horse bid from Authentic Brands for its flagship and Bandolino brands. Creditors planned to take over the remaining business, including One Jeanswear, Kasper and Anne Klein apparel brands as well as Nine West’s jewelry business, all of which the company said were profitable and growing. Nine West’s CEO said at the time of filing that it had already removed inventory and vacated almost all of its remaining brick-and-mortar stores.

Teen and tween-focused Claire’s Stores calls itself a “girl’s best friend,” with over 100 million ears pierced under its banner, but girls and young women have plenty other options these days. Among them are H&M, Forever 21 and Zara, as well as discount and online players.

Trying to free up cash and stem losses, the company closed 166 storesin 2016, a year in which the company posted net income of $53.9 million compared to a net loss of $236.4 million in 2015. For 2017, the company said it expected EBITDA of $212 million, up nearly 13% from 2016 and sales of $1.3 billion, which is roughly flat from the year before.

Even as the company showed positive cash flow, it said that much of its cash went to paying debt, making competing with fast fashion, discount and online that much harder. Like many retailers in trouble,private equity ownershipadded to Claire’s Stores’ woes. Apollo Global Management took Claire’s private in 2007 in a $3.1 billion leveraged buyout. The retailer had refinanced some debtto delay interest payments, but it wasn’t enough.

The company filed for Chapter 11 March 19with a restructuring plan agreed to by a group of its largest lenders. Under the plan, Claire’s would reduce its overall indebtedness by $1.9 billion, the company said. The plan would also give current lenders a stake in the reorganized retailer through a new equity investment of $250 million. Claire’s said it expects to complete the Chapter 11 process by September and would exit with $150 million in liquidity.

This is The Walking Company’s second trip to bankruptcy court in a decade. Founded in 1991, as a retailer of European “comfort shoes,” Walking Company — which includes the FootSmart and Big Dogs Sportswear banners — eventually expanded into malls across the country and broadened its focus to include more shoe types as well as clothing and lifestyle products. In 2008, it filed after a rapid store expansion ran into a massive recession. It emerged from Chapter 11 with its core business significantly improved, and then 10 years later ran into another sector downturn.

Leading up to its 2018 filing, the company tried to renegotiate its store lease terms to lighten its rent burdens, but had only limited success in the effort. It also suffered when Wells Fargo significantly devalued the inventory that backed a major loan and when a key vendor stopped supplying its successful private label line.

Walking Company entered bankruptcy in March with agreements for new investments and financing, and a clear path out of bankruptcy. Key to its future will be negotiations with landlords in Chapter 11 and, more importantly, making good on the new cash to adapt its model to keep up with customers and secular changes in retail.

Bon-Ton Stores, with roots going back to the 19th century, is still tightly connected to its founding family. Once privately held and mainly debt-free, it went public and expanded over the past two decades. Today it has a debt load many see as unsustainable as its sales contract in a troubled department store sector.

Bon-Ton entered 2017 under financial pressure, but many analysts thought the company had the liquidity to muddle through the year and into its next debt maturities in 2018. But as the bad news about the company flowed, the bankruptcy chatter grew louder. The retailer’s suppliers reportedly began pressing for tighter terms on shipments to the retailer last fall. In September, the retailer hired AlixPartners for help with its turnaround efforts and began a search for a financial adviser to help with a possible debt restructuring. In bankruptcy court, the retailer disclosed it had also gone looking for a prospective buyer starting in late 2017, but no formal interest materialized.

In December, Bon-Ton failed to make a multimillion dollar interest payment, entering into a grace period that eventually lapsed as the company negotiated with its lenders. The retailer filed for Chapter 11 on Feb. 4 with agreements for more than $700 million in bankruptcy financing to keep the lights on. The company won court approval for the new financing soon after — over the objections from some bondholders calling for Bon-Ton to liquidate immediately in bankruptcy, calling the retailer’s prospects for survival in a shrinking department store sector “at best, uncertain, and in reality, unlikely.”

The subsidiary of an international beauty retailer, Kiko USA played in a healthy and innovative beauty sector but had hitched its fortunes to malls.

As mall traffic and brick-and-mortar sales declined, the makeup seller launched a new line of business selling through Amazon and using its “Fulfillment by Amazon” program. That business, together with Kiko’s own website, was growing in the double digits ahead of the company’s Chapter 11 filing. But physical sales shrank too fast for Kiko to adjust its cost base through lease negotiations. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in January with plans to close all but five of its domestic retail locations by the end of February.

Kiko USA’s CEO said in a court filing that the retailer has a strategic plan that focuses on its offerings, remaining stores and e-commerce business.

A’gaci’s recent physical expansion was particularly poorly timed — it came just as mall traffic started declining. After building out 21 new stores over the past two years, A’gaci is now looking to close 49 stores — almost 65% of its footprint — in bankruptcy.

Along with bad timing, the women’s fashion retailer also suffered from bad luck. The company’s CEO said in a court filing that major hurricanes last year “ravaged” some of the retailer’s most profitable stores. The retailer’s earnings fell by $7.2 million in the past year, and the timing of the earnings hit was also terrible — it came as a major debt maturity loomed in 2018. The hurricanes, earnings hit, overexpansion and problems with a business software system roll out all worked together pushed the company to file for bankruptcy protection in January.

Now the retailer, founded in 1971 and boasts, is looking to shrink its physical footprint and focus on its more profitable stores.

Founded in 2004, Charming Charlie made a name for itself by organizing accessories and jewelry assortments by color and pricing its products in a “sweet spot” between more upscale retailers like Macy’s and specialty sellers like Claire’s that cater to younger shoppers. It grew into a retailer with more than $400 million in sales. Backed by private equity firms TSG Consumer Partners and Hancock Park Associates, the company has struggled of late to pay off its debt after a period of rapid expansion.

Last year, the retailer reportedly explored a debt restructuring after it “failed to establish sufficient scale to compete in a highly fragmented market that has been tested by the rise of internet shopping and rapidly changing consumer tastes,” according to Reuters. The company’s outlook has fallen sharply since then. The retailer plans to shutter nearly one third of its 370 store fleet by the end of the year as it also cuts some corporate staff.

The 20-year-old retailer based in Anaheim, CA has over 160 mall and outlet stores, according to the company’s website, but in early November, a lawyer representing Styles For Less told Reuters that some stores have already begun to shutter. It’s not yet clear how many more will need to close as the company restructures its mounting debt. It’s liabilities lie between $10 million and $50 million.

Like other teen apparel chains that have found themselves in bankruptcy court this year, Styles for Less has suffered as mall traffic has declined and as logoed T-shirts have fallen out of style. One of the biggest problems ailing these retailers is a lack of differentiation from their competitors and a failure to promote a strong brand identity that aligns with Gen Z.

Many saw the company’s mounting debt — a legacy of its acquisition by Kohlbergon Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital Partners and Vornado Realty Trust — as unsustainable, especially in a quickly evolving retail world and toy market. Toys R Us has been trying to compete against mass merchants, who have put pricing pressure on the box retailer, and online players. The company just this summer revamped its website, and it has been struggling for years with declining store sales.

In a court document, CEO David Brandon said the company’s debt service payments have been gobbling up around $400 million in cash every year, making it impossible to keep up with modern competition in the toy retail market. If Toys R Us can emerge from bankruptcy with less debt and money to reinvest in its business, the process could mark a turning point.

Aerosoles has been trying to find a sweet spot between its reputation for comfort and its appeal as a retailer of affordable footwear to include more fashion-forward options and higher prices. Denise Incandela, who has held executive roles at Saks Fifth Avenue and Ralph Lauren, replaced CEO R. Shawn Neville in April, and said that the Chapter 11 filing will enable the company to improve its financial structure and right-size its retail footprint, in order to refocus its turnaround strategy.

Investment firm Palladin Retail Partners added Aerosoles to its stable of retail and apparel companies in 2014: The footwear company has had three chief executives since. With 120 retail locations, the brand had a performance vibe early on. The idea was to be able to walk from home to the subway and work without resorting to wearing one’s sneakers, but the brand’s appeal has faltered of late, and the tough apparel market has taken its toll.

Vitamin World has closed 45 underperforming stores since early 2016, when it tapped RCS Real Estate Advisers to review its “above market rents.” That saved the company $2 million in profit, according to court documents. But it wasn’t enough to stave off bankruptcy and, as the retailer’s CEO previously told media, not all landlords would play ball as Vitamin World tried to negotiate rents and leases.

Vitamin World Chief Financial Officer Frank Conley said in a court filing that the retailer also suffered “significant supply chain and ingredient availability issues” that hurt sales and crimped liquidity during the transition away from its previous owner, NBTY Inc., a supplement manufacturer. The company owes a total of $14.4 million in accrued interest on secured debt and another $9.5 million on a seller note originating from the company’s 2016 buyout by a private equity company. The retailer’s inventory is valued at around $30 million.

Perfumania has been “working diligently to amend its business model, reduce its cost structure, improve supply chain efficiency, optimize marketing, reduce expenses and improve operating results long-term,” according to CEO Michael Katz. In the first quarter of this year, the company closed 43 stores, and its bankruptcy filing is meant to accelerate those efforts, Katz said. The retailer’s total debt, according to its bankruptcy filings, sits at $253.9 million. Meanwhile, sales have been declining — in fiscal 2016, they fell by 13.5% to $468.9 million compared to the prior-year period. Losses, too, have been widening, from 75 cents a share in 2015 to $1.53 a share last year. In its most recently reported quarter, Perfumania saw its amount of cash and cash equivalents fall by 76%.

In Ch. 11, the company hopes to not just reduce its expenses but transform into more of a digital retailer, with an emphasis on its e-commerce business and omnichannel initiatives that will enhance and create a more seamless shopping experience.

Alfred Angelo Piccione and Edythe Piccione founded the bridal business in Philadelphia in the 1930s and it was later run by their children and based out of Delray Beach, FL. The company recently held 61 stores nationwide, as well as stores in Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, France, the U.K., Canada and Australia. Many of its designs, which included “special occasion” dresses for bridesmaids and others, were sold by more than 1,400 retailers globally.

On June 29, Alfred Angelo’s headquarters faced an eviction lawsuit over unpaid rent, according to the South Florida Business Journal, and on July 14 the company posted a notice on its website acknowledging it had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which entails a full liquidation of its assets. Sudden store closures created chaos for patrons who had already ordered gowns and showed up at the shops to find them closed. “As a result, all stores and wholesalers are closed,” according to the company.

Southern California retailer True Religion, founded in 2002, once held a respectable reputation for quality, designer denim. But as the athleisure trend took hold and consumer tastes shifted toward yoga pants over the last several years, the jeans maker struggled to retain its once popular business. By 2016, the company became burdened by some $500 million in debt and hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP to explore restructuring options, according to Business of Fashion.

Efforts to rejuvenate the business, however, have been fruitless. In February, Moody’s Investors Service pegged the brand as one at risk of filing for bankruptcy protection due to factors like stressed liquidity, weak quantitative credit profiles, challenged competitive positions, sponsor ownership and erratic management structure. The retailer ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection on July 5, signing a restructuring agreement with lenders to erase $350 million in debt, while keeping stores open and growing its digital business, True Religion CEO John Ermatinger, said in a statement.

Papaya Clothing was in part a victim of its own success. After opening in 1999, the teen apparel retailer opened some 50 of the 80 stores it now operates during the past six years. From the chief financial officer’s account, Papaya was successful. It brings in about $134 million in sales, boasts a rapid product development timeline and consistently leads its category in sales per square foot of space. But it ran into the broader retail slowdown and faced heady competition from e-commerce, fast fashion off-price retailers. It filed for bankruptcy in June as it faced liquidity issues, in part due to the costs and debt from its rapid expansion.

Like Gymboree and rue 21, Papaya hopes to remain in operation. Papaya has asked the court for the ability to exit some 30 leases. The retailer also asked for leeway to honor potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding customer discounts, returns and loyalty rewards as it looks to restructure its debt and stay up to date on utility payments and other obligations.

Children’s retailer Gymboree filed for Chapter 11 in June, after missing an interest payment on outstanding bonds and ahead of the maturity of loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The debt was a legacy of private equity firm Bain Capital’s leveraged buyout of the company in 2010. Adding to the company’s financial woes were suppliers —jittery about the company’s finances and news of then-CEO Mark Breitbard’s departure — demanding stricter payment and shipment terms.

Gymboree’s sales had sagged amid declining mall traffic and competition from off-pricers, Target, e-commerce sellers and retailers in its own niche, namely The Children’s Place and Carter’s. Despite these headwinds and financial woes, Gymboree’s creditors see value in the company as a retailer. They’ve agreed to reduce the company’s debt load by $900 million and inject debtor-in-possession capital so Gymboree can keep operating. But the company will certainly shrink, with plans to shut as many as 450 stores in bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the company’s competitors are poised to snatch up any forgone sales as Gymboree closes stores. The main beneficiary is likely to be The Children’s Place, which overlaps broadly with Gymboree stores. Gymboree hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in a matter of months.

In April, teen apparel retailer Rue21 began shuttering some 400 stores nationwide, about a third of its fleet, calling it a “difficult but necessary decision.” That left the retailer with about 800 stores and an e-commerce business. But downsizing wasn’t enough. Ultimately, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 15, entering into agreements with some lenders to reduce debt and provide additional capital in support of its restructuring efforts, with an aim to keep the company alive.

Rue21 has been in the midst of a turnaround since an executive suite shake-up last October by private equity owner Apax Partners shortly after credit ratings firm Fitch Ratings warned Rue21 could slip down the slope to bankruptcy. The company replaced General Merchandise Manager Kim Reynolds as well as CEO Bob Fisch, who together had run the company for some 15 years. The retailer’s situation mirrors the challenges that have plagued many mall-based junior apparel retailers — over expansion, declining mall traffic and a lack of turnaround support from private equity ownership.

Discount shoe retailer Payless filed for Chapter 11 April 4 that CEO W. Paul Jones called it a “difficult, but necessary, decision” prompted by a challenging retail environment, which he said will only intensify. The company immediately announced plans to close 400 stores as part of an effort to “work to aggressively manage the remaining real estate lease portfolio.” The store closure target doubled more than a month later, with 800 of the 4,400 stores Payless operated as of April. At the time of bankruptcy, Payless also agreed with a majority group of its term loan holders to reduce its debt load by almost 50% as well as its lower annual cash interest costs.

Payless, founded in 1956 in Topeka, Kansas, reinvented shoe retail by introducing a no-frills, self-service approach that let it sell at lower prices. But the concept is no longer new and exciting to consumers, as the old-fashioned shoe salesperson is now relegated to department stores (and even Macy’s is phasing those out) and some specialty stores. Payless is also yet another victim of a leveraged buyout, after it was acquired in 2012 by private equity firms Blum Capital and Golden Gate.

Gander Mountain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 10 with immediate plans to close 30 stores and offer itself up on the auction block. The outdoor and sporting goods chain, like others that have fallen into bankruptcy this year, had gone through a rapid expansion in the years befor the retail slowdown. Since 2012 the company opened or announced some 60 new stores, and at one point operated 162 locations in 27 states. That was on top of its direct-to-consumer catalog internet business and the Overton’s e-commerce retail unit from Greenville, North Carolina. But the company, like Sports Authority and Eastern Outfitters before it, ran headlong into widening competition in its sector that includes the likes of Dick’s and Cabela’s.

On May 1, Camping World Holdings, an Illinois-based network of RV-centric retail locations and outdoor-related services, announced it had won the bankruptcy auction for Gander Mountain and Overton. The sale topped $37 million and included a host of assets, among them real estate leases, intellectual property rights, operating systems and platforms, distribution center equipment, e-commerce businesses, and fixtures and equipment. Shortly after the court approved the sale, Camping World announced it would keep open 70 of Gander Mountain’s 126 then-remaining stores.

Founded just over 100 years ago and once known as Richman Gordmans, Omaha, Nebraska-based Gordmans Stores was once a fixture in the Midwest. But the discount department store did not adapt well to changing consumer demand for e-commerce, only launching a website in 2015. Gordmans was purchased by private equity firm Sun Capital in 2008 and expanded its store fleet rapidly, mirroring the expansion of department stores like J.C. Penney and Macy’s at the time.

In recent years, Gordman’s has been plagued by declining foot traffic and plummeting sales. Sales fell 75% in the past year alone, and in January, the company announced an unspecified number of job cuts amid “the current sluggish retail environment.” In March, the company ran 106 stores in 62 markets and 22 states and carried a debt load of about $85 million.

That month, speculation of an imminent bankruptcy caught wind, and the retailer eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection mid-March, also announcing a slew of job cuts. Just weeks later, ex-Gordmans CEO (and the founder’s great-grandson) Jeff Gordman challenged regional department store chain Stage Stores in a bid to regain control of his family company. Ultimately, Stage Stores won the rights to Gordmans intellectual property, about 50 store leases, a distribution center and inventory for an undisclosed amount.

Once a star of niche retail and a veritable nerd mecca, the nearly 100-year-old company is now on its second bankruptcy and the regular butt of internet jokes about its sad liquidation sales. On March 8 RadioShack filed for Chapter 11, again, after having emerged from bankruptcy two years ago as a private company through a sale to hedge fund Standard General.

With the March filing came plans to close 200 stores and to evaluate its options for the remaining 1,300. CEO Dene Rogers blamed poor performance of mobility sales for thwarting further progress for the retailer. RadioShack also failed to find any way to dent the increasing dominance of Amazon, which accounted for a whopping 90% of the $5.6 billion growth in U.S. consumer electronics in 2015, according to Deutsche Bank. At the time of the March bankruptcy announcement, RadioShack was reported to be in talks with Sprint, which helps run about a third of its brick-and-mortar operations in co-branded stores, to evaluate its options for stores.

Aside from booksellers, electronics retailers were some of the most notable victims to be wiped out by Amazon’s e-commerce dominance. Amazon accounted for a whopping 90% of the $5.6 billion growth in consumer electronics sales posted nationwide in 2015, according to a note last year from Deutsche Bank analysts, and Hhgregg was unable to face down the competition.

The electronics, home furnishings and appliance retailer, founded in Indiana in 1955, became a multi-regional chain in the late 20th century. As competition heated up in the space, from Amazon as well as Best Buy, Sears and J.C. Penney, CEO Robert Riesbeck took measures in 2016 to shake up the company’s senior management, expand its free delivery options, boost digital efforts and streamline the supply chain. On March 3 2017, the retailer announced a 40% reduction in its store fleet, some 88 underperforming stores and three distribution centers, resulting in 1,500 job cuts. News of the turnaround came amid reports of an imminent bankruptcy filing, which was ultimately filed three days later. At the time, Hhgregg said it had lined up an anonymous buyer (which appeared to be the retailer’s ad agency Zimmerman Advertising). But by the end of March, the company acknowledged the deal had collapsed. A month later, the retailer threw in the towel, receiving court approval for a plan to close its remaining 220 stores and liquidate its assets.

BCBG Max Azria Group had been floundering for years leading up to its bankruptcy filing on March 1. The brand portfolio struggled to win a following and maintain sales while the company struggled under a debt load that by 2013 had risen to $685 million. Longtime investor Guggenheim Partners was responsible for $475 million of that. In 2015, BCBG received $135 million from investors to help restructure that debt, but problems persisted. In January 2017, the company hired business management consultant AlixPartners to tackle the challenge. By the beginning of New York Fashion Week in February 2017, BCBG, a 20-year veteran of the show, was making headlines for bankruptcy buzz rather than its clothing.

On June 9 BCBG announced that two companies in a stalking horse bid — Marquee Brands and Global Brands Group Holding Ltd. — would buy for an undisclosed amount most of its assets in bankruptcy. Per the plan, Marquee would acquire the intellectual property of the flagship BCBG brand, and Global Brands would acquire assets associated with the operation of the BCBG business. Many saw the outcome as the most hopeful in the rash of recent retail bankruptcies, with the long-respected BCBG Max Azria brand kept alive by its buyers.

Grand Forks, North Dakota-based Vanity was founded as a private company in the 1950s selling apparel and accessories for young women. By 2013, its store fleet had grown to 170 stores in 26 states. But the good times wouldn’t last.

By March 2017, the mall-based specialty apparel retailer succumbed to declining foot traffic and changing consumer demands, and began advertising a “going out of business” sale. That month it filed to reorganize under bankruptcy protection with a plan to shutter all of its stores. While a restructure is still pending, its e-commerce website is currently disabled although it promises shoppers, “We’ll be back soon!” Whether it will, remains to be seen.

Eastern Mountain Sports, founded in 1967 in Massachusetts by two climbers, and Connecticut-based discount retailer Bob’s Stores were once popular sellers of outdoor apparel and gear in the Northeast. While the companies enjoyed a steady period of growth and profitability, financial stability did not last.

In 2016, Eastern Outfitters’ previous owner, Vestis Retail Group, shuttered regional sports retailer Sport Chalet in order to focus on the Bob’s and Eastern Mountain Sports operations. It ultimately sold those retailers to Versa Capital Management, which restructured the companies under the parent company Easter Outfitters LLC at the time.

Fierce competition in the sporting goods space and private equity interest felled the company, which ultimately filed for bankruptcy after less than a year of Versa ownership. U.K. sports retailer Sports Direct emerged as a stalking horse bidder and in mid-April received the approval of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court to acquire certain assets of Eastern Outfitters LLC, including the businesses of Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports for $101 million in cash, giving the British retailer a footprint in U.S. brick-and-mortar retail and a platform from which to grow U.S. online sales.

Wet Seal has been flopping around on jagged rocks for well over a decade, its fate made slippery by the fickle predilections of its target demographic and the arrival of fast fashion. While its surf-and-sun aesthetic was once embraced by American teens in the early 2000’s, all that changed and between 2013-2015 the retailer lost more than $150 million and defaulted on $27 million in senior convertible notes. Nearly 340 stores were shuttered shortly thereafter in its first Chapter 11 filing in 2015. Through bankruptcy, the retailer was bought by private equity firm Versa for $7.5 million in cash.

As logoed-T-shirts and mall hangouts fell out of fashion, Wet Seal failed to differentiate from similarly struggling rivals - Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister and Aeropostale - and a turnaround stalled. Wet Seal was given a second life when it emerged as a private company with the aid of of Versa. But the private equity demands placed on the company led it into even deeper water, analysts told Retail Dive. Unable to find a buyer or draw in new capital, teen apparel retailer Wet Seal filed for bankruptcy protection again on Feb. 2.

“This isn’t goodbye…” The Limited promised its customers as it shuttered some 250 remaining stores in January, just a few weeks before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 17. But without a physical presence, it was essentially goodbye for the women’s apparel retailer. It closed out 2016 as a shadow of its former self, beset by falling traffic and offering styles that can also be found at rivals like Loft and at department stores.

As it publicly planned to restructure, the retailer was missing key top executives. CEO Diane Ellis left to become president of women’s apparel brand Chico’s in October after less than two months in that position. John Buell, who was elevated from his CFO role to interim CEO, abandoned ship in late December. Ironically, The Limited ultimately fell victim to the fast fashion philosophies it helped pioneer. “With Limited, one of the bigger challenges for them was the fast fashion industry and how quickly the fashion came into the marketplace,” Shelley Kohan, vice president of retail consulting at store analytics firm RetailNext, told Retail Dive. With a $26.8 million bid, private equity firm Sycamore Partners snapped up The Limited’s intellectual property, including its e-commerce business in late February, joining a portfolio that includes Belk department stores, Hot Topic, Nine West and Talbots.