BCBG Max Azria Group Inc., the glitzy fashion house founded by designer Max Azria, filed for bankruptcy in a third attempt in two years to rescue a business beset by changing consumer habits, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The latest turnaround effort began in January when the chain started closing 120 of its stores, Chief Restructuring Officer Holly Felder Etlin said in court papers filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court. “Like many other apparel and retail companies, BCBG has fallen victim in recent years to adverse macro trends, including a general shift away from brick-and-mortar to online retail channels, a shift in consumer demographics away from branded apparel,” Etlin said. The company either will sell itself at a court-supervised auction proposed for May. If no acceptable bids come in, management will try to negotiate a debt-for-equity swap with junior lenders owed $289.4 million.
