"Filene's Basement scrambles for cash; Bankruptcy possible as vendors pressure retailer for payment" by Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | April 2, 2009
Filene's Basement, the famed Boston bargain merchant, is looking for money to pacify vendors who are threatening to push the company into bankruptcy because they have not been paid for months.
Gee, the tv ads always made me feel like the place was booming with good merch!
The latest move by the struggling retailer comes just weeks after Filene's Basement shuttered 11 of its 36 stores, including one in Framingham. The flagship Downtown Crossing location, which represented about 20 percent of the chain's sales, remains shuttered because of a stalled development project at the site.
Related: Bush's Last Christmas Was Bad
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Boston Turned Blind Eye to Building Violations
Kicked the kids out for the project and there is nothing there anyway, huh?
Lawrence C. Gottlieb, chairman of the bankruptcy and restructuring practice at Cooley Godward Kronish in New York, and who represents more than a dozen vendors, said Filene's Basement had been unresponsive for months to requests seeking payment for merchandise.
Julie Davis, general counsel of Retail Ventures Inc., Filene's Basement's parent company, said yesterday the discount chain needs more liquidity. She would not rule out filing for bankruptcy protection or finding new buyers as options for the brand, known for its annual "Running of the Brides" wedding gown sale....
Pfffft!
In February, Retail Ventures put up an additional $7.5 million in cash collateral so Filene's Basement could borrow more money. But in a regulatory filing, the Columbus, Ohio, holding company said it believed Filene's Basement would need additional funds to satisfy its obligations.
Always comes back to DEBT-HOLDING, INTEREST-CHARGING BANKS and their LOANS, doesn't it?
This is the second shake-up in a decade for Filene's Basement, founded in Boston in 1908 by Edward A. Filene as a way to sell excess merchandise from his father's department store upstairs. The business expanded to nearly 56 stores by the mid-1990s but later scaled back after struggling in new markets. By 2000, the company shrunk to 14 stores and filed for bankruptcy protection.
In recent years, Filene's Basement tried to revamp its image, offering more upscale merchandise, upgrading the stores, and opening in prime locations, including Newbury Street in Boston. But the chain has been hurt by increasing competition from discounters such as Target and JCPenney, according to retail analysts....
So they been up, they been down, why the alarm now, MSM?
Related: Can You Tell Me How to Get to Newbury Street?
I'm feeling like a manipulated yo-yo.
Bernard Sands Credit Consultants, a New Jersey-based company that represents many of Filene's Basement's unpaid vendors, said the firm stopped supporting Filene's Basement in January after the discounter said it planned to close 11 stores, according to Bob Carbonell, Bernard's executive vice president and chief credit officer.
Carbonell said the retailer will have a difficult time attracting a buyer because it is too small and has been losing money for a long time....
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Somehow biotechs and green companies that never turn a profit can survive though.
Thanks, taxpayers!!!!!!
