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Accessories retailer Charming Charlie LLC has outlined its reorganization plan, which would see the company taken over by its lenders, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Before seeking chapter 11 protection earlier this month, Charming Charlie had reached a restructuring pact with its lenders and backers, which include private-equity firms TSG Consumer Partners and Hancock Park Associates. Under the proposed plan, the lenders and backers would swap their debt for equity and control of the company. The plan not only includes “the significant reduction” in debt and interest payments, but also new liquidity, which includes a $20 million bankruptcy loan, $50 million exit term loan, and a $35 million exit asset-backed revolver, according to court papers.

Bankruptcies among U.S. retailers reached a six-year high in 2017 amid declining foot traffic and the rise of e-commerce giants like Amazon, FoxBusiness.com reported. Some 50 retailers filed for bankruptcy this year, including one-time giants like Toys R Us, RadioShack and Payless. That’s the highest number of bankruptcies since 2011, when 59 companies filed for the protection, according to data from S&P Global. Mall-based stores and so-called “big-box” stores have been most affected by the retail crisis. Big-box stores like Macy’s and Sears accounted for 43 percent, or about 43 million square feet of shuttered U.S. retail space in 2017, Axios reported, citing data from real estate research firm CoStar. Of the 50 retail bankruptcies, some 21 occurred at major retailers. Other companies to file include Wet Seal, Hhgregg, Rue21, Gymboree, True Religion and Vitamin World. Read more.

In related news, Fueled by high consumer confidence and a robust job market, U.S. retail sales in the holiday period rose at their best pace since 2011, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks both online and in-store spending, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sales, excluding automobiles, rose 4.9 percent from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve, compared with a 3.7 percent gain in the same period last year, according to the Mastercard Inc. unit, which tracks all forms of payment. E-commerce continued to drive the gains, rising 18.1 percent. Read more. (Subscription required.) 

Creditors of Toys ‘R’ Us UK overwhelmingly approved the struggling retailer’s restructuring plan at a meeting yesterday, enabling it to stave off a collapse into administration, Reuters reported. Earlier this month the British arm of Toys ‘R’ Us Inc of the United States, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, said it would seek creditor approval for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). The plan will see the closure of at least 26 of its 105 British stores in 2018 and reduced rent on the stores that stay open. It would lead to 500-800 redundancies among its total workforce of 3,200. The stores earmarked for closure will, however, remain open as normal through Christmas and into the new year. At yesterday’s meeting 98 percent of Toys ‘R’ Us’ UK creditors, voted in favour of the restructuring proposals, surpassing the required 75 percent threshold.

Bon-Ton Stores Inc. said its namesake department-store subsidiary missed an interest payment on a bond that was due Friday, indicating the company could be inching closer to a bankruptcy filing early next year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Bon-Ton Department Stores Inc. missed a $14 million coupon payment on its 8 percent second-lien notes that mature in 2021 and entered a 30-day grace period that protects its ability to continue borrowing under the facility, the company said. The Pennsylvania-based department-store chain has been grappling with a heavy debt load and sliding sales for months. Bank of America, one of the company’s lenders, gave Bon-Ton additional breathing room in late October with access to more borrowings under its revolver loans, allowing it to stock up for the all-important holiday shopping season. Under the agreement with Bank of America, however, Bon-Ton’s access to its revolver loans tighten once again after early December.

Chinese dairy products maker Feihe International Inc. will acquire Vitamin World Inc out of bankruptcy for $28 million, after the U.S. nutritional supplements retailer received no other bids, Reuters reported. The deal makes Vitamin World, based in Holbrook, N.Y., the latest North American company in the vitamin sector to attract Chinese acquisition interest. Vitamin World, which filed for chapter 11 protection in September, has now canceled an auction for the company which had been scheduled for today. A bankruptcy court judge must still approve the sale to Feihe. Feihe plans to operate Vitamin World’s remaining 156 stores, the sources said. Vitamin World, formerly part of global vitamin maker NBTY Inc, shuttered nearly 200 of its retail outlets while in bankruptcy.

Toys ‘R’ Us Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in September, is considering closing at least 100 U.S. stores in the face of weak holiday sales, Bloomberg News reported. U.S. sales have declined about 15 percent this Christmas-shopping season from a year earlier. The number of closed stores could reach approximately 200, but a final decision has not been made. The Wayne, N.J.-based company operated 879 U.S. stores as of the end of January, according to its last annual report.

Charlotte Russe Inc. is poised to become the latest apparel retailer to hand control to creditors under an out-of-court restructuring transaction announced on Friday, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Charlotte Russe said it signed a deal to hand lenders 100 percent of its equity ownership, subject to dilution from a management stock plan, in exchange for their agreement to forgive $124 million in loan debt and make other concessions. Private-equity firm Advent International took San Diego-based Charlotte Russe private in 2009 for $17.50 a share, or $380 million. The company operates mall-based stores in the crowded “fast fashion” segment, selling inexpensive trendy teenage girl’s clothing and competing with the likes of Forever 21 and H&M.

Charming Charlie LLC, the latest mall-based retailer to seek bankruptcy protection as online shopping reshapes the industry, believes it can survive its trip through chapter 11, the Wall Street Journal reported. The retail chain’s lawyers appeared yesterday before Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., upbeat about the chain’s prospects. “There’s a realistic opportunity for this company to rehabilitate itself and survive for many years to come,” said Joshua Sussberg, a Kirkland & Ellis LLP attorney representing Charming Charlie. Sussberg, an ABI "40 under 40" honoree, has represented other retailers under bankruptcy protection this year, including Gymboree Corp., BCBG Max Azria Inc., and most recently, Toys ’R Us Inc. Charming Charlie has reached a restructuring pact with its lenders and backers, which include private-equity firms TSG Consumer Partners and Hancock Park Associates, subject to court approval. The proposed deal calls for the elimination of debt in exchange for control of the company.

Sears Holdings Corp. extended the terms of a $400 million loan while announcing a new planned borrowing to cover pension contributions, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer entered into an agreement with “new and existing lenders” to delay the maturity of its term loan to January 2019 from June 2018, with an option to further extend the maturity date by another six months, according to a securities filing yesterday. Sears had paid down the loan by $325 million in the fourth quarter. Despite frequent predictions from short sellers of the company’s demise, the loan extension suggests that investors haven’t lost hope that Sears can stanch a persistent cash burn and weather a downturn in brick-and-mortar shopping nationwide. Sears also said it intended to obtain a new credit facility of up to $607 million backed by real estate properties to fund a $407 million pension payment and for other purposes. The pension contribution was required under a recent deal that released certain Sears properties from the grasp of the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.