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Banks that operate inside Wal-Marts reap among the highest fees from customers of any banks in the nation, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis yesterday. The Journal’s analysis of federal filings found that the five banks with the most Wal-Mart branches, including Woodforest, ranked among the top 10 U.S. banks in fee income as a percentage of deposits in 2013. Most U.S. banks earn the bulk of income through lending. Among the 6,766 banks in the Journal's examination, just 15 had fee income higher than loan income — including the five top banks operating at Wal-Mart. Some of the leading banks at Wal-Mart pitch accounts to people who otherwise might not have access to banks, including those with bad credit histories. Woodforest's chief executive, Robert E. Marling Jr., said his bank provides convenient hours, free financial education and unusually forgiving account features, often for riskier customers previously shut out of the banking system. The bank lets clients overdraw, in some cases up to $500, for a fee. About 78 percent of Woodforest's fee income is from overdrafts, Marling said, including fees on unpaid items such as bounced checks.

Quiznos Corp., the Denver-based toasted-sandwich chain that entered bankruptcy in March, received court approval of a recovery plan that cuts debt by more than $400 million, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. First-lien lenders owed $445 million, including Oaktree Capital Management LP, MSD Capital LP and Caspian Capital LP, will get 70 percent of the new stock plus new debt, according to court papers. Remaining stock will go to second-lien lenders owed $174 million. Quiznos, founded in 1981, negotiated the plan with most of its senior lenders before seeking court protection on March 14, citing a weak job market and greater competition among fast-food restaurants. Quiznos franchisees operate about 2,100 restaurants in all 50 U.S. states and 34 countries, according to its website.

A group of landlords and food suppliers expecting to go unpaid in Sbarro LLC's chapter 11 case are set to receive $1.25 million under a settlement reached last week with the Sbarro estate, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Cooley LLP attorney Seth Van Aalten, who represents the creditors, said that Sbarro's lenders have further agreed to continue doing business with the company's vendors and landlords once Sbarro emerges from bankruptcy. The lenders also agree not to sue trade creditors to recover money paid to them in the weeks before Sbarro filed for bankruptcy, Van Aalten said. Sbarro entered chapter 11 protection in March with a proposed bankruptcy exit plan backed by 98 percent of its lenders that swaps $140 million in debt for control of the restructured business. Sbarro said in court filings this week that it intends to go through with that plan after a deadline to bid on the company's assets passed with no potential buyers emerging.

Coldwater Creek Inc. moved closer to liquidating its merchandise and closing its stores, after a bankruptcy judge authorized the women's clothing retailer to advance an agreement with two liquidators, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon yesterday also authorized Coldwater Creek's proposed auction rules, which will govern the bidding tomorrow should a rival buyer decide to challenge the two liquidators, Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC.

General Growth Properties Inc. swung to a first-quarter profit on stronger-than-expected funds from operations and revenue growth, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. The mall owner raised its 2014 projection for per-share funds from operations — a key profitability measure for real-estate investment trusts — to between $1.30 and $1.32 from its previous estimate for $1.27 to $1.31. General Growth, which owns and manages retail properties in shopping malls across the U.S., has sold and spun off assets in an effort to improve its business since exiting bankruptcy in 2010.

Specialty retailer Brookstone Holdings Corp. has received bankruptcy-court approval to sell ownership of the restructured company at auction, with a $146.3 million offer from a Spencer Spirit Holdings Inc. affiliate setting the floor price, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon on Friday approved the rules to govern the Brookstone auction, including a $3.7 million breakup fee and up to $500,000 in expense reimbursement to Spencer's if it is bested by another offer. The Spencer's offer is worth $120 million in cash plus $75 million in notes and assumption of liabilities. The auction is scheduled for June 2, and competing bids are due May 28. Those bids must be worth at least $250,000 more than the Spencer's offer and cover the cost of Spencer's breakup fee and expense reimbursement.

Women's clothing and accessories retailer Coldwater Creek Inc. on Friday reached an accord with its landlords, many of whom had objected to the terms of a deal the company struck with two liquidators, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. To satisfy the landlords, which lease retail shopping center space to Coldwater, the deal was modified so the landlords are not precluded from filing objections later in the case. Though a ruling on the company's proposed bid rules was delayed by Judge Brendan Shannon, the agreement represents a significant step toward an approval. A new hearing to consider the bid rules was scheduled for April 29, at which point Judge Shannon will make a decision on an objection from a newly formed creditors' committee.

Companies affiliated with Carol’s Daughter filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday in connection with the beauty brand’s move to close most of its stores, the Wall Street Journal reported today. CD Stores LLC, formerly known as Carol’s Daughter Stores LLC, filed its chapter 11 petition with the Manhattan bankruptcy court, as did the individual companies behind Carol’s Daughter stores. Court papers show that CD Stores is 100 percent owned by parent company Carol’s Daughter Holdings LLC (the parent company didn’t file for bankruptcy). And the petition, which reported assets and debts each in the $1 million to $10 million range, was signed by Carol’s Daughter Chief Financial Officer John D. Elmer.

A bankruptcy judge yesterday cleared distressed investor Clearlake Capital Group to acquire plus-size women's clothing retailer Ashley Stewart out of its chapter 11 case, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Clearlake, a Los Angeles private-equity firm, was the lead bidder for Ashley Stewart Holdings Inc.'s retail chain. But the company canceled last week's scheduled auction after no rival bidders emerged, paving the way for Clearlake to acquire the chain in a deal valued in the range of $18 million to $23 million. In addition to approving the sale, Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan yesterday also signed off on a settlement that allocates the sale proceeds among Ashley Stewart's objections. Under the deal, Ashley Stewart will use the sale proceeds to pay off what the company owes under its $17.5 million bankruptcy loan. The settlement sets out a "waterfall" scheme to pay the remainder of the sale proceeds out to high-priority creditors, then the retailer's bondholders and unsecured creditors.

A proposal to pay Brookstone Holdings Corp. executives at least $840,000 in bonuses faces opposition from a federal bankruptcy watchdog, who argues that the company isn't making it difficult enough to earn the extra cash, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. U.S. Trustee Roberta DeAngelis said in a Friday court filing that tying the bonuses to a sale offer struck before Brookstone sought bankruptcy protection doesn't push the executives enough to enhance the company's value in order to earn the bonuses. Brookstone filed for bankruptcy on April 3 with a plan to sell its business to the owner of the Spencer's retail chain for $146.3 million.