Sears Holdings Corp., Claire’s Stores Inc. and Nine West Holdings Inc. are among seven chains at high risk of defaulting within a year as shoppers shift to online merchants and spend more on experiences, according to a Fitch Ratings study of retail bankruptcies, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The companies were named in a report yesterday that found retailers wind up liquidated almost three times more often than other companies in bankruptcy because customer defections are making turnarounds harder to execute. Other chains at risk include True Religion Apparel Inc., 99 Cents Only Stores LLC, Nebraska Book Co. and Rue21 Inc., Fitch said. The credit-grading firm studied 30 recent retail bankruptcies that involved $10.5 billion of debt. Fifty percent didn’t survive the process, compared with 17 percent across other industries, Fitch said. Grocery chains were an exception, with five of six emerging as operating businesses because they had strong locations, Fitch said. Read more.
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