Accessories seller Charming Charlie LLC won court approval yesterday to move forward with its reorganization plan, allowing the chain to survive its bankruptcy proceedings, a rare achievement for a retailer in recent years, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. “You’re performing a rather unusual task of reorganizing a retailer in 2017 and 2018,” Judge Christopher Sontchi said to attorneys in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. “I’m quite happy to enter an order confirming the plan.” Charming Charlie sought chapter 11 protection in December faced with a cash crunch and mounting debt load. Like many of its mall-based peers, the retailer blamed its woes on the major challenges facing the overall industry, namely the consumer shift to online shopping. Charming Charlie has closed more than 100 of its 375 stores in the U.S. and Canada since December. In the months leading up to the chapter 11 filing the company reached a restructuring pact with its lenders and backers, which include private-equity firms TSG Consumer Partners and Hancock Park Associates. The deal will see Charming Charlie’s lenders swap their debt for control of the company. Read more.
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