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KLN Manufacturing, a longtime San Antonio makerof furniture for military barracks, universities and hospitals, is shuttering its local operations next month, MySanAntonio.com reported yesterday.  The closing of the 275,000-square-foot facility follows the November bankruptcies of two related companies, KLN Steel Products Co. and its Dallas-based parent company AGS Enterprises Inc., which does business as Avteq Inc. Each filed for chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas. At the time, O’Donnell issued a statement that KLN Manufacturing had not filed for bankruptcy and would “continue to manufacture products, service customers, employ great people, and pay vendors.”

Hail & Hog Kitchen and Tap, a northern Virginia-based theme restaurant paying homage to the NFL’s Washington Redskins, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The eatery is based in Ashburn, Va., a suburb located 30 miles north of Washington that is also home to the professional football team’s training camp. Hail & Hog is one of a number of football-themed restaurants owned by the G.R.E.A.T. Grille Group, also known as G3. None of the other G3 businesses have filed for bankruptcy, according to Hail & Hog’s lawyer. “The root of the bankruptcy relates to the cost of the build-out for the restaurant and sums owed as a result to the general contractor,” said Roy Terry, a Sands Anderson lawyer who is representing Hail & Hog in the case. The restaurant plans to stay open and use the restructuring process afforded by chapter 11, Terry said.

A former lender to RadioShack Corp. and a one-time chief executive officer of Frederick’s of Hollywood are teaming up to provide a new source of funding to retailers, aiming to capitalize on upheaval at shopping malls, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Andy Moser and Thomas J. Lynch, two industry veterans, are starting a Boston-based firm called Scargo Hill Capital that will make asset-based loans to consumer companies. The founders expect to work with emerging businesses that may not be able to get a loan from a traditional bank, in addition to providing a lifeline to struggling chains. With consumer spending habits changing so rapidly, “there’s plenty of turmoil in the market for us to focus on,” Moser said in an interview. While asset-based lending has tended to focus on distressed companies, emerging retailers often have similar profiles, Moser said. They lack a history of solid financial performance but need capital to expand their businesses. Scargo Hill also will target loans to smaller suppliers and merchants that have been getting squeezed by consolidation, he said.

American Apparel, once a high-flying retailer that peaked at more than $600 million in sales, is probably headed toward liquidation after a bankruptcy auction ended with Canadian T-shirt and underwear maker Gildan Activewear Inc. buying intellectual property and other assets for $88 million, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. This transaction doesn’t include American Apparel’s stores, and the fate of its garment workers in Los Angeles remains in doubt. The company had 4,700 employees and 110 stores as of November, when it filed for bankruptcy for the second time in 13 months. Gildan said that it has no obligation to keep any American Apparel employees. The end comes about two years after American Apparel’s board orchestrated the firing of founder and chief executive officer, Dov Charney, for alleged misconduct, which he denies. Charney engaged in a bruising -- and ultimately futile -- public battle to regain control. Saddled with high-interest debt racked up during Charney’s tenure, American Apparel first filed for bankruptcy in October 2015 and was taken over by former bondholders led by Monarch Alternative Capital. But the reorganization did little to slow American Apparel’s decline as sales continued falling. 

A U.S. Supreme Court case that was touted as a significant retail business dispute with First Amendment ramifications seemed to fizzle fast yesterday as justices questioned whether freedom of speech was involved at all, the National Law Journal reported today. The case Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman tests whether New York can dictate what merchants say to their customers about the different prices they charge for credit card and cash payments. Ten other states, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas, have similar laws that prohibit merchants from imposing surcharges to cover the "swipe fee" that pay credit-card companies, laws which in some cases have been interpreted to prevent merchants from using the word "surcharge."

Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear Inc. said that it had won a bankruptcy auction to buy U.S. fashion retailer American Apparel for about $88 million in cash, Reuters reported today. The deal is subject to approval from a bankruptcy court on Thursday, the company said. Under the deal, Gildan will acquire the intellectual property rights related to the American Apparel brand and certain manufacturing equipment. The company, however, will not buy any of the 110 American Apparel retail stores.