The parent company of century-old women’s apparel brand New York & Co. has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to liquidate all its stores after being hurt by forced closures and supply-chain issues during the coronavirus pandemic, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. New York-based specialty retailer RTW Retailwinds Inc., which also owns the Fashion to Figure and Happy x Nature brands, filed for chapter 11 protection on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J., listing assets of about $405 million against nearly $450 million in debt. RTW said that it has started store-closing sales and inventory liquidations at its 387 retail stores in 32 states while it considers a sale of its e-commerce business and intellectual property. The retailer has hired liquidators Great American Group LLC, a subsidiary of B. Riley Financial Inc., and Tiger Capital Group LLC to conduct the closing sales, which are expected to conclude by Aug. 31, court papers show. The company said 92 percent of its brick-and-mortar stores have reopened after temporary closures due to the pandemic. Founded in 1918 as Lerner Shops and formerly known as New York & Co., the business changed its name to RTW in November 2018. RTW had employed about 5,000 people in February, with roughly 3,600 of those employees working part time.
