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Francesca's Holdings Corp. said yesterday in an 8-K filing that it will close 140 stores by Jan. 31, 2021, MarketWatch.com reported. The company expects to incur charges totaling $29 million $33 million through Oct. 31, 2020 related to the store closures. The number of stores the struggling women's retailer will close could change. Francesca's is considering options to improve its financial and liquidity situation, including restructuring debt and seeking lease concessions. The company said that a bankruptcy restructuring is also an option under consideration. "If the Company is unable to raise sufficient additional capital to continue to fund operations and pay its obligations, the Company will likely need to seek a restructuring under the protection of applicable bankruptcy laws," the company said. Francesca's stock sank more than 14 percent in trading yesterday, and has plunged 80 percent over the past year.

Guitar Center Inc, the largest U.S. retailer of music instruments and equipment, has reached a restructuring agreement with key stakeholders that includes debt reduction by nearly $800 million, Reuters reported. The retailer signed the Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) with its equity sponsor, a fund managed by private equity firm Ares Management LP, new investors Brigade Capital Management and a fund managed by Carlyle Group, as well as supermajorities of its noteholder groups. The agreement includes new equity investments of up to $165 million to recapitalize the company, the retailer said. The company expects to file voluntary petitions for reorganization following chapter 11 in the U.S. bankruptcy court to execute the prepackaged financial restructuring plan, according to the statement. Guitar Center, which owns nearly 300 stores across the country, said business operations will continue without any interruption under the deal. In 2017, the company said it was exploring ways to restructure its $1.3 billion debt burden as music lovers moved their shopping online. Guitar Center began in 1959 as a store selling home organs in Hollywood.

A bankruptcy judge designated the Flynn Restaurant Group LLC’s bid for Wendy’s and Pizza Hut franchisee NPC International Inc. as the best offer so far, setting an $816 million minimum price that rival bidders must beat, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The decision came after Wendy’s Co. voiced opposition, saying Flynn operates brands of sandwich competitors Arby’s and Panera Bread. Wendy’s has also formed a consortium with regional franchisees to launch its own offer for NPC’s Wendy’s restaurants. Both Wendy’s and Pizza Hut LLC have expressed concerns about NPC’s quick timeline for a sale, and have pushed for greater involvement in vetting any new owner of NPC’s restaurants. Last week NPC, the biggest franchisee of both Wendy’s and Pizza Hut restaurants, proposed tapping Flynn, the largest restaurant franchisee in the U.S., as the lead bidder, or stalking horse, to buy the company out of bankruptcy. At a hearing Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Judge David Jones agreed to confer stalking-horse status on Flynn. He also signed off on breakup fees despite Wendy’s opposition. Wendy’s lawyer Sean O’Neal indicated the burger chain might ultimately not consent to Flynn’s planned takeover of NPC’s Wendy’s restaurants.

Tailored Brands Inc. said late Friday it expects to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the month after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved its reorganization plan, MarketWatch.com reported. "We are extremely pleased to have reached this milestone," Chief Executive Dinesh Lathi said in a statement. The retailer behind Men's Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank and other apparel said it had progressed steadily through its financial restructuring, invested in online and contactless order capabilities, and "further curated" its offerings. "These and other actions taken while in chapter 11 are the continuation of a strategic transformation that started well before COVID-19 and will position us to compete and succeed for the long term," Lathi said. Tailored filed for bankruptcy in August, part of a wave of pandemic-related bankruptcies that engulfed retailers in particular.

Simon Property Group Inc., the biggest U.S. mall operator, will cut its purchase price for an 80 percent stake of rival Taubman Centers Inc. by 18 percent, both companies said on Sunday, as the coronavirus upends the retail industry sector, Reuters reported. The agreed discount comes as the two companies settled a legal dispute over the transaction, which Simon had previously threatened to walk away from, citing the hit to the industry from COVID-19. Under the revised terms, Simon will pay $2.65 billion for the 80 percent stake in the Taubman Realty Group (TRG), cutting its offer price to $43 per share in cash from $52.50 originally announced in February. The Taubman family will sell about one-third of its ownership interest at the transaction price, leaving them with a 20 percent stake in TRG, the companies added. The companies said they also have settled their pending litigation in a Michigan court over the merger and the companies expect the deal to close later this year or early next year.

Freight carriers including container shippers and cargo airlines say global demand is building toward a seasonal peak that could outstrip last year’s as more consumers shop online to overcome coronavirus curbs, Bloomberg News reported. Overall, container volumes may dip just 2 percent in 2020 compared with industry experts’ early forecasts of a 15 percent slump, according to Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd AG, which is deploying more capacity now than it did during the build-up to year-end holidays in 2019. “Volume started really coming back from August,” Jansen said in an interview on Friday. “From everything we see now, it looks like the market is going to remain pretty strong until at least Chinese New Year in mid-February.” Cargolux Airlines International SA, Europe’s biggest freight-only carrier, is experiencing a similar surge in demand and has 30 Boeing Co. 747 freighters in continuous operation. While that’s partly because a drop in passenger flights has reduced hold space, CEO Richard Forson said consignments of protective gear that dominated earlier in the year are giving way to toys, fashion items and electronic goods including the latest Apple Inc. iPhone, Sony Corp. PlayStation and Microsoft Corp. Xbox offerings. The upturn is unlikely to deliver a bumper festive period for high-street retailers battered by the coronavirus outbreak, with Internet-focused businesses the likely beneficiaries.

Century 21’s intellectual property assets are up for sale, Footwear News reported. The company is seeking a buyer for the bankrupt retailer’s IP, including its trademarks, the C21Stores.com domain name, customer data and social media assets. Century 21 brought in total gross revenues of more than $747 million in the 2019 fiscal year. Roughly $53 million of those sales were attributed to the company’s e-commerce platform. Offers to acquire the assets are due by Nov. 16, with an auction scheduled for Nov. 19. The sale is subject to the approval of a judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. According to the 60-year-old retailer, the decision to seek chapter 11 protection came after its insurance providers failed to pay roughly $175 million under certain policies that were put in place to protect against losses stemming from business interruptions, such as those experienced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. According to its bankruptcy filing, Century 21 — with estimated assets and liabilities both in the range of $100 million to $500 million — owed PVH Corp., parent of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger $4.8 million, while G-III Leather Fashion is unpaid $4.2 million. (No. 1 on the list of creditors with the largest unsecured claims financial holding firm CIT Group, which is owed about $5.9 million.) Meanwhile, Adidas has a claim of $1.2 million; Michael Kors is due $1 million; Zara is unpaid $908,514; and Hanes Brands is owed $783,855. Other fashion names for which Century 21 has an outstanding tab include Puma at $455,572; Nike at $431,046; and Cole Haan for $423,162. 

Retailers may be in for a precious gift during this year’s holidays: time. Analysts are predicting that Americans will spend more than last year and start their shopping earlier, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported. For retailers generally, this should translate into increased cash flow through the remainder of 2020, and for some, it may be enough to turn the corner and avoid bankruptcy. The shopping season is unlikely, however, to save any companies from bankruptcy that were already headed that way before the coronavirus pandemic. Holiday creep — the phenomenon of the holiday shopping season starting earlier and earlier every year — is not new, but this year, advertisements for Black Friday sales started in October, which is typically reserved for Halloween. On top of that, pandemic-related product shortages and longer delivery times have led to changes in consumer behavior, making them more likely to buy if they see something they like rather than risk the item being out of stock later on. Analysts are forecasting an overall spending increase between 1 percent and 2 percent over 2019, although some are predicting no growth at all. Moreover, analysts predict a year-over-year increase of more than 30 percent in online shopping, compared with a 19 percent increase in 2019 over 2018. These are not exciting predictions for brick-and-mortar retailers, but for those with a strong online presence, and those that have embraced reimagined ways to shop — think curbside pickup — they are reasonably good news.  

Revlon Inc. said it has obtained adequate support from bondholders to avert a bankruptcy filing, The Wall Street Journal reported. The New York-based cosmetics company said on Thursday that it has determined that close to 70 percent of the holders of a bond nearing maturity agreed to a debt-swap deal, gaining Revlon more time to pay off its loans. Revlon, backed by billionaire Ron Perelman’s MacAndrews & Forbes Inc. and run by his daughter Debra Perelman, has been struggling with a heavy debt load, heightened competition, and changing consumer tastes. These struggles intensified with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which hit Revlon’s sales of lipstick and makeup as Americans used masks and spent more time at home. Revlon has a $343 million bond which comes due on Feb. 15. However, its debt agreements contain a requirement that this bond be refinanced at least three months before maturity, on Nov. 15, or it would trigger over $1 billion of senior loans to come due immediately. Since Revlon had less than $350 million of liquidity as of last month, the company wouldn’t be able to repay that amount and would have to seek bankruptcy protection. Revlon, in July, launched an offer to buy the bonds back from the holders at a steep discount, though the company would pay cash for them. Revlon, faced with the prospect of bankruptcy, in recent weeks hired the restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal to prepare a contingency plan for a potential chapter 11 filing. 

JCPenney Co.’s top landlords are betting on a comeback for department stores, some of the biggest pandemic losers, after clearing a final hurdle to buying the company out of bankruptcy, WSJ Pro reported. A bankruptcy judge signed off on a sale of the 118-year-old department store chain to Simon Property Group Inc. and Brookfield Property Partners LP, saving JCPenney from potential liquidation and keeping roughly 60,000 employees in their jobs. JCPenney’s ability to survive a bankruptcy at all is notable in a grim retail landscape where others that have filed for chapter 11 during the pandemic wound up liquidating. For Simon and Brookfield, the acquisition is coinciding with rising market optimism that consumer habits could return to normal next year after a coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE showed promise in protecting people from COVID-19. Still, skeptics are questioning whether department stores like JCPenney should be saved. Simon Chief Executive David Simon told investors that he believes JCPenney can be made profitable again by following the mall owner’s playbook of reducing rent and overhead while leveraging the scale of Simon’s vast apparel retail holdings. Simon and Brookfield also teamed up to buy Forever 21 Inc. out of bankruptcy in February and Aéropostale Inc. in 2016.