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Outdoor apparel company Eddie Bauer on Feb. 9 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, in its third bankruptcy filing since 2003, and announced plans to wind down operations at its approximately 180 retail locations in the United States and Canada.
The company, founded in downtown Seattle in 1920 by its namesake, renowned outdoorsman Eddie Bauer, said it will begin liquidating merchandise at its retail stores while simultaneously pursuing the sale of all or part of its retail business. Stores will remain open as the company moves through court-supervised sale proceedings, and the company noted that it may halt the full closure of retail operations if a buyer steps forward.
Eddie Bauer’s online and ecommerce business is now overseen by Outdoor 5 (Oved) and won’t be affected by the retail wind-down. The Eddie Bauer brand and its intellectual property, meanwhile, have been owned since May 2021 by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) and SPARC Group, which also own Lucky Brand, Nautica, Brooks Brothers, and the now-defunct Forever 21 brand. On Jan. 8, SPARC Group and JC Penney announced they had formed a new entity, Catalyst Brands, to manage its portfolio of retail brands, including Eddie Bauer.
Catalyst Brands CEO Marc Rosen, formerly CEO of JC Penney, cited a challenging retail environment of declining sales and supply chain issues at Eddie Bauer as primary reasons for the Chapter 11 filing.
“Over the past year, these challenges have been exacerbated by various headwinds, including increased costs of doing business due to inflation, ongoing tariff uncertainty, and other factors,” Rosen said in a statement.
“While the leadership team at Catalyst was able to make significant strides in the brand, including rapid improvements in product development and marketing, those changes could not be implemented fast enough to fully address the challenges created over several years.”
Eddie Bauer locations outside of the United States won’t be affected by the Chapter 11 filing. Bankruptcy documents show Eddie Bauer LLC has assets worth $100 million to $500 million and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
“This is not an easy decision,” Rosen said. “This restructuring is the best way to optimize value for the Retail Company’s stakeholders and also ensure Catalyst Brands remains profitable and with strong liquidity and cashflow.”
A month earlier, on Jan. 8, Authentic Brands Group and Oved announced they would take over Eddie Bauer’s wholesale and ecommerce operations in an effort to grow the brand’s digital reach. Authentic’s portfolio of outdoors and athletic brands includes Reebok, Champion, Spyder, and Prince. It also owns retail brands that include Guess, QuickSilver, Volcom, and Juicy Couture.
“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Authentic and take on this exciting new role with Eddie Bauer,” David Oved, CEO of Outdoor 5, said.
“We see tremendous opportunity to meet consumers where they are—shopping online and through leading multi-brand retailers, by enhancing the brand’s reach, growing its digital footprint, and delivering exceptional products across the market.”
