Southeastern Grocers LLC, the company behind the Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie supermarket chains, is gearing up to hire consultants to close more stores, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The company had already closed 48 stores in the past 18 months, bringing its total store count to 702 stores as of last September. It couldn’t be determined how many more stores the grocery chain is planning to close. The company also has a coupon payment due on one of its two note tranches on Feb. 15. If the company elects not to pay the coupon on Feb. 15, it could be a sign that the company is getting closer to deal with large bondholders to restructure its $1.2 billion of debt. The beleaguered discount grocery chain has also been reaching out to debt investors since December to refinance another $425 million in senior bonds which mature in 2019. Read more.
Occupancy issues are at the heart of many significant retail cases, as detailed in the forthcoming ABI publication Retail and Office Bankruptcy: Landlord/Tenant Rights, available for pre-order at the ABI Store.
