Steve & Barry’s, the clothing chain that sells clothes for dirt cheap, is going under, according to media reports. The economy must really be awful if a store like this can’t make it. They practically give away their clothing. Get to the store now for even better deals.
Steve & Barry’s was touted as a major new source of life for the long-suffering Biltmore Square Mall, which has been hanging despite the fact that few people around town see it as a real retail destination. It was a darling, a phenomenon, and we bought into it. I bought into it. I checked out the store, and was shocked at how cheap their clothes were. Not the best quality, but you can hardly turn down shirts and slacks priced in the $9.99 range.
WLOSers had the news on Tuesday night, but I didn’t see anything in the Asheville Citizen-Times this morning.Here’s a sampling of some of the reports:
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – Steve & Barry’s, the clothing chain that touts cheap fashions featuring celebrity names such as Sarah Jessica Parker, is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as early as Wednesday, according to media reports.
The closely held Port Washington, N.Y., company hasn’t been able to raise rescue financing in recent weeks and may sell all its assets, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation. The company also has been in discussions with Sears Holdings Corp. about a bail out or a partial sale, the paper reported.
A filing by Steve & Barry’s would deal another blow to economy-battered shopping-mall owners that had paid hundreds of millions of dollars to lure the chain into empty spaces as large as 100,000 square feet, the Journal said.
Port Washington retailer Steve & Barry’s is expected to file for bankruptcy protection and announce that it is going out of business this week, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
The company, which was bought out of bankruptcy in August, laid off many of its corporate staff Monday, including its newly appointed chief executive, Harold Kahn, sources said. Only a skeleton crew of about 30 remains.
The layoffs came as a surprise, and no reasons were given, the source said.
In six months, Steve & Barry’s LLC went from a national retail phenomenon to a midsummer bankruptcy collapse to a new lease on life.
Now, fewer than three months after a private-equity firm and hedge fund acquired the discount clothing chain out of bankruptcy for $168 million, it stands on the brink of liquidation.
The 275-unit Port Washington, N.Y., chain, which gained national prominence with fashion lines by celebrities such as actress Sarah Jessica Parker and surfer Laird Hamilton, is set to announce this week it will go out of business, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Bay Harbour Management LC, the private-equity firm based in New York that acquired 175 of the stores, has hired a liquidation firm to handle the going-out-of-business sale for the chain. The roughly 5,000 employees will be let go.
The retailer joins a number of others that entered bankruptcy protection this year and planned to restructure but then liquidated amid a hostile consumer economy. Others such as Linens ‘N Things Inc. and Mervyns LLC also liquidated.
9 Comments
"That mall needs an identity."
That mall needs a bulldozer.
The S&B model was simple: get dying and zombie malls to pay you millions of dollars to open a store, and use that money in lieu of profits from the actual sales.
I did read a story several months back (can’t remember where, but my impression is that it was a reputable source) that said S&B was going under because their business model was unsustainable – too much money going out into big mall stores, advertising surges and so on, not enough coming in on profit margin. Given the price of their clothes, it’s hard to see how they could be profitable no matter how many under-the-table 5-yr-olds they have making them.
Eventually, the theory was that eventually the profit margins would catch up to and surpass their costs, but stuff like the oil crisis and other issue kept that from happening. So they were losing money on each sale and trying to make it up on volume, as the saying goes.
I had a feeling that was happening. I went in there last week because they marked everything as being ‘liquidated.’ Unfortunately their boys baby clothes suck. But I did a ‘Now Hiring’ sign … maybe they are staying open through Christmas.
I can’t believe I’m at all sentimental about a mall, but I hope Biltmore Square doesn’t go under. I’d rather it be turned into something for the rich folk, like Zipperhead said, than see it to turned into something more depressing than what it already is.
Biltmore Mall has been out-dated for the past 20 years – bringing in cheap products is not necessarily the answer. Was there ever any advertising for Steve and Barry’s – I dont’ recall seeing any.
Retailers, consumers everywhere – we are all going to be rethinking where we shop, why we shop in the next year. I hope it will turn out to be good in the long run
Blub, I haven’t heard anything since the announcement about the property being sold.
Link here:
http://www.commercialpropertynews.com/cpn/specialties/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003438977
I thought the mall was recently purchased by some group (Charlotte maybe) and was going to be transformed into something else. Any news on that Ash?
That mall needs an identity. How about a specialty mall for the Rich folk. They could get Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue. I think the market is ripe for such a mall. Maybe even an IMAX theater and a Cheese Cake Factory. The mall neads a facelift like the Southpark Mall in Charlotte got a few years back. That mall is now a success.
Otherwise that mall is dead.
wow! Big surprise.