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Gymboree Group Inc, a U.S. retailer of infant and children’s clothing, is considering closing more than half of its approximately 900 stores, Reuters reported. The move would be a setback for Gymboree after it emerged from bankruptcy last year. It was one of the few brick-and-mortar retailers that managed to escape liquidation in a wave of bankruptcies that swept the sector, amid the rise of online shopping. Gymboree has hired consulting firm Berkley Research Group LLC to assist it in evaluating options, which could include filing for bankruptcy again. Berkley Research Group will also help cut costs and analyze the mall-based chain’s leases.

Black Friday weekend sales data from third-party analytics providers indicate a merry start to the holiday season, with online sales taking more share, Bloomberg reported. Four-day Black Friday weekend sales totaled about $60 billion, according to Customer Growth Partners. Consumer electronics and appliance sales rose 6.4 percent, vs CGP’s estimate of 6.1 percent growth, while apparel sales rose 5.4 percent, in line with the firm’s projection, but still the best growth since 2011.

Steinhoff International said on Thursday that its Mattress Firm Inc. unit, the largest U.S. mattress retailer, emerged out of bankruptcy with access to $525 million in exit financing, within two months of filing for chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported. Mattress Firm also closed about 660 underperforming stores, said Steinhoff, which has been working on a deal to restructure the debt of some units after revealing multi-billion-dollar holes in its balance sheet. The store closures still leave the Houston-based company with about 2,600 stores across the U.S. Mattress Firm, founded in 1986, had filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection in early October, gaining some breathing room to restructure and shore up its finances.

Restaurant operator Papa Gino’s Inc., which cut 1,100 jobs without warning then filed for bankruptcy protection, is seeking court permission to hide the addresses of employees in court papers, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The company cited privacy concerns as the reason it wants to avoid the bankruptcy disclosure rules when it comes to its former employees, who may have claims for back wages or other creditor rights. But federal bankruptcy watchdogs have challenged the break from rules. Employment rights lawyers could be trying to contact the former workers, Linda Casey, lawyer for U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara, said at a court hearing in Delaware earlier this month. Or employees might want to band together to gain an official voice in the bankruptcy case, she said. Without addresses, that could be tough for a workforce that operated in scattered shops across several states. The debate over whether the company is doing ex-workers a favor by guarding their privacy or simply tamping down the chances they can challenge its bankruptcy restructuring will be decided by Judge Mary Walrath at a hearing Nov. 28.

Investors who bought insurance meant to mitigate losses from Sears Holdings Corp.’s bankruptcy proceedings are claiming that a hedge fund that sold the insurance is improperly influencing market proceedings, according to a letter seen by Reuters. According to the letter, Cyrus Capital Partners LP worked to “torpedo” an auction planned for yesterday for company bonds by getting Sears to include wording in a bankruptcy court order that would disqualify the bonds in credit proceedings. By selling the insurance, Cyrus had been wagering that Sears would avoid filing for bankruptcy. The investors, whose names were redacted in the letter, bet correctly that Sears would file for bankruptcy. It was not clear if the investors bought their insurance from Cyrus or another firm. The letter, which is not public, was submitted on Tuesday by attorneys for the investors to a committee of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) overseeing the market. Later on Tuesday, ISDA determined that the bonds would be included, according to a posting on its website.

Thousands of former Toys R Us workers will receive severance payments from a new $20 million fund, the Washington Post reported. The move is considered rare among private-equity-backed companies that file for bankruptcy. Even so, the amount pledged is well below the $75 million a workers rights group says those who lost their jobs are owed. Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts announced yesterday that each had committed $10 million to a fund for former Toys R Us workers. Bain and KKR are two of the three firms that bought Toys R Us in a 2005 leveraged buyout and loaded it up with billions of dollars in debt before liquidating the chain in June. One hundred percent of contributions to the fund will be paid directly to eligible employees. The fund is structured so that other “interested parties” can contribute. A third Toys R Us owner, Vornado Realty Trust, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it would give to the fund.

J.Crew Group Inc. will keep its recently departed chief executive’s strategies for the core business in place, while curtailing his spending plans for new brands, according to J.P. Morgan high yield analyst Carla Casella, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. J.Crew’s management will continue to execute the retailer’s “new Crew” relaunch, its new loyalty program and move to offer a bigger range of sizes, according to a report released by Casella yesterday, based on her discussions with management. Over the weekend, J.Crew announced that CEO James Brett, who joined the company about 16 months ago, was leaving by a “mutual agreement” between him and the board of directors. J.Crew’s loans fell more than four points to just over 85 cents on the dollar on Monday after the news of Mr. Brett’s departure, and even further yesterday to just over 83 cents on the dollar, according to IHS Markit.

Wedding gown retailer David’s Bridal filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday to implement a restructuring deal reached in recent weeks with lenders, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Last week, the retailer announced it had reached an agreement with term loan lenders and substantially all of its senior bondholders and equity holders on the terms of the deal, which will see it slash more than $400 million in debt from its balance sheet. A balance sheet reworking that will preserve David’s as an operating business has support from investors that collectively hold or control roughly 85 percent of the approximately $481 million under the top-ranking loan, and roughly 97 percent of the $270 million in unsecured notes, court papers say. Term lenders will become the majority stakeholders of the business, with a 76 percent stake, assuming the votes come in as expected and the chapter 11 plan wins court confirmation. David’s admitted it had lost some market share to local bridal competitors, but blamed the bulk of its financial struggles on an overload of debt. The Conshohocken, Pa.-based retailer skipped a loan payment recently and opened talks with lenders about how to resolve a debt load of more than $900 million.

Sears Holdings Corp. is seeking permission to pay its top executives millions of dollars in bonuses over the next two financial quarters, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The company has pinpointed 18 top executives to share in a total $8.5 million in bonuses, split between the periods ending in January 2019 and April 2019, according to court papers filed on Thursday. In addition, Sears wants to pay 322 non-insider workers bonuses from a $16.9 million pool. The move comes as Sears’s uncertain future is being debated by some of the retailer’s creditors. Sears entered bankruptcy with the goal of selling and reorganizing around about 400 of its most profitable stores. The company has proposed a sale process that includes a Dec. 15 deadline for a so-called stalking horse bidder to make its offer, and the auction to take place in January.

A long-running dispute over the future of Toys “R” Us Inc.’s healthy Asian retail business has come to an end, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Asian business’s proposed new owners, a group of bondholders, have reached a deal with minority owner Fung Retailing Ltd. to form a partnership to operate the business, according to a Thursday news release. When Toys “R” Us announced it would wind down its U.S. business in March, it said that it would either sell or liquidate its international entities. The Asian business was considered the most prized among them. Fung owned a 15 percent stake in the Asian business, the result of a joint venture signed in April 2017, just months before Toys “R” Us’s bankruptcy filing. Early on, the TRU Taj foreign arm of Toys “R” Us sought in U.S. bankruptcy court to invalidate Fung’s right of first refusal and sell 100 percent of the equity. Fung pushed back, arguing that it didn’t fall under the jurisdiction of U.S. courts and that bid procedures should protect its rights. A U.S. bankruptcy judge overruled the objection, but Fung appealed.