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Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., the long-struggling surfwear chain, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The chapter 11 filing could come as soon as next week, though the situation remains fluid, and the timing could change. PacSun is the latest casualty of sluggish retail spending and shifting consumer tastes, which have pushed chains such as American Apparel Inc. and Quiksilver Inc. into bankruptcy court during the past year. PacSun has recorded losses every year since 2008, and its shares have plunged about 90 percent in the past 12 months. The Anaheim, Calif.-based company, which operated 613 stores as of December, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. An affiliate of private equity firm Golden Gate Capital has provided PacSun with a $60 million senior secured term loan, giving it leverage in a potential bankruptcy. San Francisco-based Golden Gate’s consumer and retail portfolio includes California Pizza Kitchen, Eddie Bauer and Payless ShoeSource.

The drama between Sports Authority Holdings Inc. and consignment suppliers is coming to an end with a settlement that looks to resolve more than 160 lawsuits, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Sellers of shoes, gloves and other winter gear sold on consignment sought the return of their goods after Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy last month. The retailer, which is liquidating some 140 stores, said that it needed the gear to sell at its remaining stores and sued the consignment sellers to block them from seizing the goods. The dispute revolves around about $85 million worth of winter gear currently being sold at the struggling retailer’s stores. The settlement, if approved by Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath would keep these products on Sports Authority’s shelves throughout the chapter 11 proceedings.

The owner of Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles has filed for bankruptcy as the famous Californian soul food restaurant's parent company, East Coast Foods, Inc., says that it owes creditors between $10 million and $50 million with assets totaling less than $50,000, CNNMoney.com reported yesterday. Roscoe's, which has five locations in the Los Angeles area, has drawn big names including President Barack Obama, Snoop Dogg, David Beckham and Larry King. According to court documents, East Coast Foods owes $3.2 million to Daniel Beasley, a black employee who successfully sued the company for harassment and discrimination while he was employed at a Roscoe's restaurant. In September 2015, a jury ordered the company to pay Beasley $1.6 million in damages and another $1.6 million for attorneys' fees.

New terminals can accept credit and debit cards with embedded digital chips, a security feature intended to reduce the number of fraudulent purchases, but before the payment systems can work, they must be certified. Many retailers around the country are waiting for this process to happen and they say that the cost of waiting is piling up, the New York Times reported today. Until recently, banks covered much of the cost of fraudulent purchases. Since Oct. 1, though, merchants that cannot accept chip cards have had to shoulder the cost of fraud, and banks have not been shy about passing along the bill. The long delays are just the latest black eye for the deployment of the new systems. Some consumers have not yet received new cards. Many merchants have not bought the updated equipment. And even when the cards and the terminals have been updated, they have generated confusion and slow lines. Many of the complications were widely predicted, but the certification system has added an unexpected wrinkle — and lots of finger-pointing.

Haggen agreed to sell its original stronghold of Pacific Northwest stores to Albertsons in what seems to be the final chapter of a convoluted grocery-empire saga, the Seattle Times reported on Saturday. The Bellingham, Ore.-based grocer said Albertsons will acquire 29 of its so-called core stores, a group of locations in Washington and Oregon that Haggen had intended to retreat into when it became apparent its big expansion in the U.S. Southwest was doomed. A lengthy contract filed in bankruptcy court indicates Albertsons will pay a “base amount” of $106 million, subject to various adjustments. The deal requires approval from the bankruptcy court in Delaware overseeing the dismantling of Haggen’s remains. An auction previously scheduled for March 18 has been canceled, Haggen said.

Sports Authority Inc.’s bankruptcy rippled through the sporting-goods industry on Tuesday, with companies saying that it was creating both hardships and opportunities, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. said that it would try to pick up market share ceded by its longtime rival, which is closing stores as it makes its way through bankruptcy court. Performance Sports Group Ltd., meanwhile, was dealt a blow by the chapter 11 filing. The maker of baseball bats and hockey gear wrote down anticipated sales that it would have gotten from Sports Authority. Performance slashed its outlook, sending its stock down 66 percent on Tuesday.

Retailers are making it tougher to buy gift cards, a consequence of new credit card rules that put them on the hook for fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Some merchants are requiring that customers buy the cards with cash or asking that they show identification. Others have cut back to smaller denominations, put limits on repeat purchases or stopped selling certain cards altogether, according to people who are familiar with the stores’ policies. The restrictions are putting a crimp on an increasingly popular form of plastic, not only among gift-givers, but also among shoppers — in stores and online — looking to rack up loyalty points by using a credit card. Americans are expected to load $651 billion on prepaid cards this year, up 57 percent from six years ago, according to consulting firm Mercator Advisory Group. Nearly half of that is expected to involve the “open-loop” cards branded by Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. or American Express Co. that can be used anywhere and that are affected by the new limits.