%1

Bruegger's Bagels is selling 28 of its upstate New York stores for $4.6 million as part of its franchisee's bankruptcy reorganization plan, the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union reported. The bagel chain's largest franchisee, Flour City Bagels of Rochester, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2016. Bruegger's has 12 local stores, including its original location on Congress Street in Troy, that are all part of the sale to New York Style Bagels LLC. Last year, Bruegger's Bagels abruptly closed its shop at Madison Avenue and South Allen Street, a neighborhood staple since the 1980s amid the closing of several of the upstate stores that existed at the time of the bankruptcy in 2016. At the time, HOT LLC, which describes itself as the sole member of Flour City Bagels, said that it hoped to continue operating while it restructured its debt.

Last week, Landry’s won the auction for Joe’s Crab Shack owner Ignite Restaurant Group, according to a commentary yesterday in Nation's Restaurant News. The company bid $57 million, edging out an offer from a shell company that, according to a source, was formed by Johnny Vassallo, founder of Mo’s Restaurants in Houston, and Houston businessman Corbin Robertson. Interestingly, the $57 million wasn’t even the most that Landry’s would have paid, according to the commentary. Recall that shortly after the bankruptcy was filed, the company bid $60 million and won a deal with Kelly Investment Group to act as a second stalking-horse bidder. The company ended up saving $3 million. Landry’s and its CEO, “Billion Dollar Buyer” Tilman Fertitta, are getting a debt-free, streamlined version of Ignite and its two chains. At its peak, in 2014, Joe’s operated 139 locations around the country. It slowly began closing units as sales problems increased, declining to 130 locations in 2015, and then 112 units at the end of 2016. That’s the number of units the chain had when it filed for bankruptcy. Of the 72 units currently remaining, 33 locations are in three states: Texas, California and Florida.

Since Alfred Angelo, one of the nation’s biggest bridal chains, announced it was going out of business and filing for bankruptcy last month, Patricia Redmond — the company’s bankruptcy attorney — has been a woman on a mission, the Wall Street Journal reported today. At two dozen former Alfred Angelo locations across the country, she has found ways to deliver gowns, dresses, veils and garters that customers had already paid for. The day before Alfred Angelo’s closure, store managers were instructed to return store keys to the bankruptcy trustee. Despite some landlords changing the locks, the trustee and attorney were still authorized access to the stores, as the company had yet to receive court approval to reject the leases. All prepaid orders are being treated as unsecured claims in the bankruptcy case, and could take years to be repaid, which there is no guarantee will happen. Though she’s not counting, Redmond’s efforts have saved the day for hundreds of brides, bridesmaids and mothers-of-the-bride.

U.S. consumers ramped up spending last month, supported by low unemployment, rising confidence and a sense their personal finances have been repaired a decade after the housing crisis spurred a mission to pare back debt, the Wall Street Journal reported today. But there is a catch: Households are again running up debt, and they are saving less, which could constrain spending in the future. Sales at U.S. retailers rose a larger-than-expected 0.6 percent in July, the biggest monthly gain since December, the Commerce Department said yesterday. Americans spent more for cars, furniture, home-improvement supplies and, more than anything, online goods, including purchases during Amazon.com Inc.’s annual “Prime Day” event. Retail sales in June were also far higher than previously reported.

Traditional department stores like Macy’s have been trying to reinvent themselves, shedding stores and expanding their e-commerce operations to try to compete with Amazon and other online retailers. But this week, Wall Street’s patience with such turnaround efforts wore thin, amid a string of unsettling earning reports by brick-and-mortar retailers, the New York Times reported. After Macy’s reported another sales decline in the second quarter on Thursday, its share price fell more than 10 percent. On Friday, J. C. Penney shares hit their lowest price in a decade, falling 16 percent after the company said its profit margins had softened more than analysts had expected. Kohl’s also fell on Friday after it reported earnings. And some analysts expect Sears to report a third consecutive double-digit decline in same-store sales for the second quarter. The retail sector is the second most actively shorted industry in the stock market behind the software and internet sector, according to S3 Partners, a financial analytics firm. And short bets on retailers have increased 18 percent since Jan. 1.

After flirting with a public stock offering and trying to catch the eye of many potential buyers, the 46-store “sexual wellness” retailer Peekay Boutiques filed for chapter 11 protection to clear the way for a sale, the Seattle Times reported today. The chain, founded in 1982 by Phyliss Heppenstall as a family business, has been owned since 2012 by private equity investors who borrowed heavily to acquire several regional retailers in hopes of building a national franchise. It does business under four names: Christals, Lovers, ConRev and A Touch of Romance. The company’s debts to its primary lenders, originally $38.2 million, have since grown through unpaid interest and fees to nearly $52 million, according to the chapter 11 filing by Peekay Acquisition in bankruptcy court in Delaware. The owners of the various retailers that were acquired also provided seller financing totalling $12.7 million, which has grown to $19 million due to unpaid interest.

Payless ShoeSource is set to emerge from bankruptcy as soon, one of the largest retail chains to do so, and is banking on a strategy focused primarily on bricks-and-mortar sales at a time when e-commerce is casting an ever-growing footprint on retail sales, Reuters reported. Payless' emergence essentially gives the company a do-over after disposing of half of $847 million of debt it had built up under its private-equity ownership. With a cleaned-up balance sheet, Payless is seeking to position itself to compete in a tight U.S. market, open more stores across Latin America — a major part of its growth strategy — and develop new franchises in Asia.

Last week, the top mall operators delivered a blunt message to short sellers and naysayers who had expected more gloom for landlords in the bricks-and-mortar retail business: Don’t count us out just yet, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The real-estate investment trusts delivered second-quarter results that showed some resilience, with average sales productivity holding steady and occupancy rates taking a smaller-than-expected hit from retailer bankruptcies and announced store closures. Simon Property Group Inc. and Macerich Co. reported strong re-leasing activity and a pickup in same store net operating income growth, and their shares have climbed since their results were announced last week. Mall landlords said that they are working hard to fill vacated space with tenants such as restaurants and entertainment providers that draw foot traffic.