New Chapter 11 Bankruptcy - B. Lane Inc. (d/b/a Fashion to Figure)

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Fashion to Figure (@FTFSnaps)

  • 11/13/17 Recap: Another retailer finds its way to bankruptcy. Here, the New York-based plus-size women's specialty retailer with 26-mall-and-outlet-center-based locations has filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey. The company appears to be suffocating under the weight of its brick and mortar locations but purports to have successful e-commerce and wholesale channels. It intends to pursue a sale of all of its assets "to be consummated as soon as possible given the upcoming critical holiday shopping season commencing on 'Black Friday'...." Wait, huh? The company is filing NOW to get out AHEAD of Black Friday? No wonder this company is bankrupt. Of course, the company is also considering vacating locations and "expeditiously conducting going out of business" sales. To this end, the company has filed a bid procedures motion with a joint venture of liquidators, SB Capital Group LLC and 360 Merchant Solutions LLC, lined up as stalking horse bidder for the assets; it also intends to continue to pursue a sale to "one of the largest department store chains in the United States," which apparently expressed some interest pre-petition. Meanwhile, no background on a bankrupt retailer is complete without some private equity shop getting thrown under the bus. Here, the company states (without overtly identifying the PE fund for whatever reason), "In 2012, prompted by a [$15mm] private equity investment, the Company embarked on a rapid expansion of the business. The expansion, however, proved ill-fated and ill-timed, coming at a time when traditional brick and mortar retail was on the decline. Specifically, the Company over-expanded into the shopping mall retail space at a time when market trends were shifting away from traditional brick and mortar stores and towards online retail." Ah, private equity. Speaking of private equity, a fund affiliated with Perella Weinberg Partners is listed as the primary equityholder with a 20.5% position. Curious. Otherwise, it looks like a slate of "friends and family" type investors got burned here. Speaking of getting burned, the list of top creditors reflects a who's who of landlords that the distressed world has become accustomed to seeing at the top of the "Top 30 Creditors" list: Washington Prime Group Inc. ($WPG)(listed once), Westfield Corp. ($WFD)(twice), Simon Property Group Inc. ($SPG)(six times), and Macerich Co. ($MAC)(listed twice). Nothing to see here.
  • Jurisdiction: D. of New Jersey (Judge Sherwood)
  • Capital Structure: $1.0mm secured debt (ACM Capital Fund I LP), $250k (Cowen Overseas Investment LP)
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Lowenstein Sandler LLP (Kenneth Rosen, Bruce Buechler, Philip Gross, Keara Waldron, Michael Papandrea)
    • Prepetition Investment Banker: Cowen and Company LLC
    • Claims Agent: Prime Clerk LLC (*click on the company name above for free docket access)
    • Other Parties in Interest:
      • ACM Capital Partners LLC
        • Legal: Shraiberg Landua & Page (Bradley Shraiberg)
      • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors
        • Legal: Hahn & Hessen LLP (Mark Powers, Alison Ladd) & (local) Fox Rothschild LLP (Richard Meth, Paul Labov)
        • Financial Advisor: EisnerAmpner LLP (Edward Phillips)

Updated 5/5/18

New Chapter 11 Filing - Vanity Shop of Grand Forks Inc.

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Vanity Shop of Grand Forks Inc.

  • 3/1/17 Recap: As malls empty out across the country, the dominoes are starting to fall. If there is nothing but vacancy and tumbleweed around you, foot traffic will stall. If foot traffic stalls, revenue stalls. If revenues stall, landlords can't get paid. And if landlords can't get paid, well, say hello to the Grim Reaper. Okay, that's a little dramatic, but, to be fair, this does generally describe mall-based retail these days. And the latest chapter in this sad story is the liquidation of Vanity Shop's 137 stores - the affect of which in smaller geographies like North Dakota can't be underestimated (not to mention any ripple effect: 60% of the company's inventory came from US suppliers). In addition to the (now) regular laundry list of prior companies who have had a similar fate in the retail space, e.g., The Limited Brands, THIS was probably the most interesting disclosure in the company's filing: "The Debtor initially contemplated soliciting a bid from Hilco Merchant Resources, LLC (who has routinely performed inventory appraisals and liquidation analyses of Debtor's assets every six months) but was advised that Hilco is currently unavailable to take on another liquidation project at this time." (emphasis added). Now THAT is telling.
  • Jurisdiction: D. of North Dakota
  • Capital Structure: $4.3mm debt (Wells Fargo), $5mm subordinated debt   
  • Company Professionals:
    • Legal: Vogel Law (Jon Brakke, Caren Stanley)
    • Liquidator: Tiger Capital Group LLC
      • Legal: Cohen Tauber Spievack & Wagner PC (Robert Boghosian)
    • Claims Agent: KCC (*click on company name for docket)
  • Other Parties in Interest:
    • Wells Fargo
      • Legal: Riemer Braunstein LLP (Donald Rothman, Alexander Rheaume)
    • Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (Washington Prime Group Inc., GGP Limited Partnership, Simon Property Group Inc.)
      • Legal: Fox Rothschild LLP (Mette Kurth, Paul Labov, Ellie Barragry, L. John Bird)
      • Financial Advisor: BGA Management LLC (Michael Knight)

Updated 4/27/17