Apparel brand Brooks Brothers filed for chapter 11 yesterday, joining a list of decades-old American retailers that have crumbled under the impact of the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. The 200-year old apparel retailer said that its strategic review process was still underway and the bankruptcy filing would help it obtain additional financing to facilitate the sale. “During this strategic review, COVID-19 became immensely disruptive and took a toll on our business,” a company spokesperson said. Owned by Italian billionaire Claudio Del Vecchio, the privately held company boasts of having dressed 40 former U.S. presidents including John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama and has about 500 stores around the world, most of which had to be closed due to coronavirus-led restrictions. Brooks Brothers said it secured $75 million in debtor-in-possession financing and that, along with cash flows from ongoing operations, would give it liquidity to support it through the sale process. In a District of Delaware court filing, the company stated that it had assets and liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion.
