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Toys “R” Us Inc. has missed payments to some suppliers in recent days as its U.S. division heads toward a likely liquidation, Bloomberg News reported. Toys “R” Us also recently stopped negotiating settlements with vendors on money owed before it filed for bankruptcy, some of the people said. The bleak situation lends evidence to the notion that Toys “R” Us is moving toward winding down its U.S. operations for good. Bloomberg reported last week that the retailer was making preparations for a liquidation of its domestic business. The company has failed to find a buyer or reach a debt restructuring deal with lenders, leaving it with few options. A hearing in bankruptcy court is scheduled to be held tomorrow, after being delayed.

Bon-Ton Stores Inc. bondholders plan to make a $650 million joint bid for assets of the department-store chain with liquidation firm Great American Group, a lawyer for the bondholders said yesterday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The group of second-lien bondholders will use the $100 million value of their bonds as part of the consideration, in a credit bid for the company, the attorney, Sidney Levinson, told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The bondholders and Great American plan to liquidate the business if their bid prevails in an upcoming sale process, Levinson said. Meanwhile, the retailer is continuing to search for a strategic investor to keep part of the department-store chain alive after bankruptcy. The company, which filed for chapter 11 protection in early February after years of declining sales, has already said it would close 42 of its 260 stores.

Claire’s Stores Inc., the fashion accessories chain where legions of preteens got their ears pierced, is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks, Bloomberg News reported. The company is closing in on a deal in which control would pass from Apollo Global Management LLC to lenders including Elliott Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Venor Capital Management and Diameter Capital Partners are also involved, the people said. The move should help ease the $2 billion debt load at Claire’s.

Toys “R” Us Inc. is making preparations for a liquidation of its bankrupt U.S. operations after so far failing to find a buyer or reach a debt restructuring deal with lenders, Bloomberg News reported. While the situation is still fluid, a shutdown of the U.S. division has become increasingly likely in recent days. Hopes are fading that a buyer will emerge to keep some of the business operating, or that lenders will agree on terms of a debt restructuring, according to sources. The toy chain’s U.S. division entered bankruptcy in September, planning to emerge with a leaner business model and more manageable debt. A new $3.1 billion loan was obtained to keep the stores open during the turnaround effort, but results worsened more than expected during the holidays, casting doubt on the chain’s viability. Read more. 

Walking Co. Holdings Inc., which has sold “comfort shoes” from around the world in the U.S. since 1991, yesterday filed for its second bankruptcy in less than a decade, Bloomberg News reported. Santa Barbara, California-based Walking Co. cited the loss of a contract from its largest vendor, UGGs maker Deckers Outdoor Corp., as among the reasons for its bust. “As a result of the difficult environment for store-based retailing in 2017, Walking Co. could not replace the lost UGG sales fast enough,” Chief Executive Officer Andrew Feshbach said in a court declaration. This resulted in its inventory getting appraised at lower levels, leading its lender Wells Fargo & Co. to reduce the amount of capital under a credit line.

The founding family of Nordstrom Inc. experienced their second setback in trying to take the company private yesterday, when a special committee of the board rejected their roughly $8 billion buyout offer as too low, the Wall Street Journal reported. The buyout group, which includes private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners, offered $50 a share, a price below the company’s latest closing price. As part of the deal, the group would also buy 21 percent of the family’s current stake, allowing the heirs to cash out about $550 million of their ownership in the retail chain. The family’s shares are mostly held by Bruce Nordstrom, a grandson of the founder and a former CEO, and his sister Anne Gittinger. The group also includes Bruce’s sons, Blake, Peter and Erik, who hold the title of co-president, and James Nordstrom, their cousin, who is president of stores. Together, the six family members own about one-third of the company’s stock.

New owners Brent and Blake Sonnek-Schmelz are looking to revive retailer City Sports after bankruptcy, the Boston Globe reported. The fitness apparel shop will open in April in suburban New Jersey, near the home base for the brothers’ 32-store Soccer Post chain. But it will be the model for what the brothers do with their future City Sports locations, with Boston and Philadelphia next in line. They hope to have a “pop up” store in those cities by the end of 2018. The locations could become permanent if the stores are successful, Brent Sonnek-Schmelz says. Previous owners of City Sports grew too aggressively, expanding beyond the downtown locations that served their urban customers resulting in bankruptcy in 2015, then liquidation. The brothers, though, saw opportunity and scooped up the City Sports “intellectual property” — such as the website and customer lists — for $400,000.