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Sequential Brands Group Inc., the New York-based company that owns and licenses consumer brands from Jessica Simpson fashions to Gaiam yoga wear and Joe’s Jeans, has filed for bankruptcy and will sell assets, saying that a big debt load and the COVID-19 pandemic made business difficult, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The publicly traded New York business sought chapter 11 protection Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., with a $333 million offer for its active-division brands from brand manager Galaxy Universal LLC and a $38.2 million stalking-horse bid for the Joe’s Jeans brand from Centric Brands LLC, another apparel licensing company. Sequential lenders including KKR & Co. and Apollo Global Management Inc. may bid their debt claims for the remaining brands, court documents show. The company said yesterday that it enters bankruptcy with a restructuring agreement with its lenders and has lined up $150 million in financing, of which $141 million will be available immediately pending court approval, to stay afloat through the chapter 11 process. Sequential’s two biggest shareholders are Martha Stewart and private-equity firm Tengram Capital Partners, which own 10.9% and 11.5%, respectively. Sequential has been in trouble with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since last year, when the regulator sued the company, alleging shortcomings in its accounting. In February, Sequential filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, which remains pending. In early August, the SEC settled charges against Sequential’s former CFO, Gary Klein. Revenues started declining in 2019 and continued declining during the pandemic, according to a court filing by current CFO Lorraine DiSanto. The impact of COVID-19 also caused supply-chain disruptions for retail licensees, she said in a court filing.

Since its groundbreaking nearly two decades ago, the megamall built in New Jersey’s Meadowlands has done little except hemorrhage cash. Now, less than two years after its much-delayed opening, the complex known as American Dream is threatening to dash the lofty ambitions of yet another developer, Bloomberg News reported. The Ghermezian family, which runs some of the biggest and most successful malls in North America, can’t keep up with the bills on the shopping and entertainment megaplex, which helped drive its original developer to the brink of bankruptcy and later was seized by lenders from the team that came next. Revenue from the stores has been so scarce amid the surging pandemic that the Ghermezians have hired legal and financial advisers to help them ease the crushing $3 billion debt load, and perhaps retain some role in running the project. The family members aren’t the only ones who stand to lose big money. Lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Soros Fund Management and Starwood Property Trust Inc. could face losses on $1.7 billion in construction loans. About $1.1 billion of municipal debt is also backing the project.

More small businesses — and even some larger ones — are charging shoppers a fee for credit-card purchases or offering them discounts when they pay with debit cards, cash or checks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The moves are meant to offset the various fees businesses pay on credit-card transactions, costs that have grown alongside generous cash-back and travel rewards. Data on cash discounting is hard to come by, and less than 5% of 8 million card-accepting small businesses in the U.S. charge fees for credit-card payments, according to estimates from payments consultancy the Strawhecker Group. But that share has risen steadily in recent years. Five years ago, an estimated 2% or less of businesses charged fees on credit-card purchases. The coronavirus accelerated the shift, sending businesses in search of revenue to make up for sales lost in the pandemic’s early months. CardX LLC said more than 6,400 merchants — most of them online businesses — use its surcharge-calculating software, up from 4,030 a year ago and 2,380 in 2019.

Toys “R” Us will roll out shops at more than 400 Macy’s Inc. locations in the U.S. in 2022, the companies said, revamping the toy emporium’s U.S. brick-and-mortar presence since it filed for bankruptcy in 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported. The return to physical retail locations marks another effort to revive Toys “R” Us’s footprint after two locations that opened in late 2019 in New Jersey and Texas closed in January because of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving it without brick-and-mortar presence in the U.S. For Macy’s, the move comes as it plans to quintuple the size of its toy business, which has been a strong but small part of the company’s operations, Macy’s Chief Executive Jeff Gennette said Thursday. He said customers who come to buy toys will likely buy other things as well, translating into additional sales for the department-store chain. The partnership will give it “the opportunity to go after the category with a lot more vigor,” Mr. Gennette said. The companies said their partnership would also mean Macy’s customers will be able to buy Toys “R” Us products online with Macy’s digital and fulfillment system. Toys “R” Us generates more than $2 billion in global retail sales annually through almost 900 branded stores outside the U.S. and e-commerce businesses in more than 25 countries, the company said. Brand-management company WHP Global Inc. earlier this year acquired a controlling stake in Toys “R” Us parent Tru Kids Inc.

Amazon.com Inc. plans to open several large physical retail locations in the U.S. that will operate akin to department stores, a step to help the tech company extend its reach in sales of clothing, household items, electronics and other areas, the Wall Street Journal reported. The plan to launch large stores will mark a new expansion for the online-shopping pioneer into bricks-and-mortar retail, an area Amazon has long disrupted. Some of the first Amazon department stores are expected to be located in Ohio and California, the people said. The new retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet, smaller than most department stores, which typically occupy about 100,000 square feet, and will offer items from top consumer brands. The Amazon stores will dwarf many of the company’s other physical retail spaces and will have a footprint similar to scaled-down formats that Bloomingdale’s Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and other department-store chains have begun opening, the people said. It is unclear what brands Amazon will offer in the stores, although the company’s private-label goods are expected to feature prominently. Amazon sells scores of products including clothes, furniture, batteries and electronic devices through many of its own labels. The plans aren’t yet final and could change, according to sources.

U.S. retail sales fell more than expected in July as shortages weighed on purchases of motor vehicles, suggesting a moderation in economic growth early in the third quarter, Reuters reported. The weak sales reported by the Commerce Department on Tuesday also reflected a plunge in online purchases, payback after Amazon pulled forward its Prime Day to June from July. With the school year getting into full swing later in August and most education districts reverting to in-person learning, a rebound is likely, though rising COVID-19 cases are a wild card. Retail sales dropped 1.1% last month. Data for June was revised up to show retail sales increasing 0.7% instead of rising 0.6% as previously reported. Receipts at auto dealerships fell 3.9% after declining 2.2% in June. Motor vehicle production has been hampered by a global shortage of semiconductors. The scarcity of chips has also impacted the availability of some household appliances like microwaves and fridges.