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Simply Fashion's unsecured creditors are pushing back against the retail chain's proposal to run going-out-business sales in a deal that would bring just $4.4 million into the bankruptcy estate, saying the only parties to benefit will be the owners of the closely held company, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. An auction scheduled for yesterday was canceled when no other bidders came forward to challenge an offer from liquidators at Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC . The pair proposes paying Simply Fashion 27.5 percent of the retail value of the remaining merchandise in its roughly 250 stores. The money raised from the sale, estimated at around $4.4 million, won't come close to covering the $9 million in secured debt and $9.9 million in unsecured debt owed to insiders of the company, creditors said in a Monday filing in bankruptcy court.

RadioShack has nearly been picked clean, with corporate scavengers putting prices on just about everything of value left at the once-proud company, according to a Bloomberg News analysis yesterday. All that's left are the rights to reuse the name itself in the U.S. — and the names of millions of RadioShack shoppers. The defunct electronics retailer is selling those off in what should be the last major action in its bankruptcy proceedings. Bids are due today, and an auction will follow next week, if there are multiple bidders. A court hearing to approve the sale could take place on May 20. 

Going-out-of-business sales at Cache Inc.'s some 200 stores may have signaled the end of the brick-and-mortar retailer, but the Cache name could live on following the sale of the women's clothing chain's intellectual property, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath on Tuesday signed off on the sale of Cache's intellectual property and customer lists to Cato Corp., a chain of more than 1,300 women's clothing and accessories stores. The intellectual property sale won't actually bring more money into Cache's dwindling bankruptcy coffers. That's because Great American Group, the liquidator that ran going-out-of-business sales at the chain, bought the IP rights for $2.5 million and then sold them to Cato. That price was included in the $18 million Great American paid for the rights to the sales, according to court filings.

RadioShack has agreed to mediation with state attorneys general concerned about the electronic retailer's planned sale of customer data as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, the Associated Press reported yesterday. A RadioShack attorney told a bankruptcy judge yesterday that the mediation, which will include a consumer privacy ombudsman, will start May 14. That's after a scheduled May 11 auction for intellectual property assets including the names and addresses of millions of RadioShack customers. RadioShack is seeking to sell 8.5 million customer email addresses and 65 million complete customer name and address files, along with what it calls "transaction data."

Lawyers for soup and salad chain Saladworks LLC said that they have secured a $15 million bid to kick off an auction for the company next month, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Saladworks officials said in court papers that they plan to start the May 27 auction with a bid from an entity called SW Acquisition Co. LLC. Dozens of buyers have been evaluating Saladworks, which filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 17 amid an ownership dispute, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara said in court papers that RadioShack Corp. hasn't specified yet what consumer data could be auctioned off next month as part of the electronics retailer's turnaround, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Lawyers for Vara said in the filing that RadioShack officials haven't revealed what information — potentially home addresses, phone numbers and credit card data — from about 65 million customers could be sold when the Fort Worth, Texas, company auctions off its intellectual property and recognizable trademark on May 11. Vara's lawyers told Judge Brendan Shannon, in the documents filed that the "lack of specificity and clarity surrounding the sale of consumer data" has made it difficult for consumer-privacy ombudsman Elise Frejka to make sure that consumer rights are protected.

Women's clothing chain Simply Fashion Stores Ltd. sought bankruptcy protection on Thursday with plans to liquidate, the latest in a long line of women's retailers to fall on hard times in the past year, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Friday. Simply Fashion, which has nearly 250 stores in 25 states, filed for chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Miami. The family-run company, founded in 1991, built its business by taking advantage of fire sales in retail bankruptcies. Simply Fashion got its start after buying 100 store leases through the bankruptcy of a retailer that sold clothing for $6 or less. It picked up more leases from other bankruptcy cases in 1996 and 2005. In 2014, Simply Fashion began licensing the intellectual property from Dots, another retailer that went into bankruptcy, and reopened 60 Dots stores. The company owes $9 million in secured debt to two of its owners, Swapnil Shah and Shail Shah. Its unsecured debts include $400,000 owed to IberiaBank, $3.7 million in general unsecured claims and $9.9 million in unsecured debt owed to insiders.

Frederick’s of Hollywood filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday with a $22.5 million offer in hand from Authentic Brands Group, LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The agreement with Authentic Brands means the lingerie chain will continue only as an online business, unless a rival steps forward that agrees to reopen the stores. None appeared in the efforts to find a buyer that preceded the bankruptcy, court papers say. If any competing bids are received, Frederick’s is planning a May 28 auction, with Authentic Brands as lead bidder.

U.S. consumers boosted their spending in March but showed signs of continued caution despite months of cheaper gasoline and rising confidence, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Sales at retailers and restaurants increased 0.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted $441.4 billion, the Commerce Department said yesterday. That was the biggest monthly gain in a year, but it was still down from November, when retail sales reached their highest level since the end of the recession. Compared with a year earlier, overall retail sales were up 1.3 percent in March, compared with a year-over-year increase of 4.5 percent in March 2014.

Headed to the bankruptcy auction block in May is the well-known trademark of RadioShack, as well as the data of millions of customers and contracts with hundreds of independent dealers strung across small-town America, who have been selling under the RadioShack name for decades, the Wall Street Journal reported today. It is all for sale in a bankruptcy that, so far, has only paid off part of the $1 billion or so in debt that had pushed RadioShack Corp. into bankruptcy in February. While much of the business was saved through a takeover by Standard General LP, the corporate shell of RadioShack left behind in chapter 11 is still trying to scrape up more cash for creditors. More than half the 4,000 stores are being liquidated, but the hedge fund rescued over 1,700 stores and is leading a revival of the retailing operation.