Blue Holdings Drops Life & Death, Set to Shutter Stores
Blue Holdings, the publicly traded premium-denim manufacturer, has announced that it will discontinue its Life & Death brand, close its two retail stores and dismiss 35 employees, or approximately 25 percent of its full-time staff.
The Commerce, Calif.–based company—which makes premium denim under the Antik, Taverniti So, Faith and Yanuk brands—said the moves are part of a plan to return the company to profitability.
The store closures in Los Angeles and San Francisco and the discontinuation of Life & Death, a high-end T-shirt line created by Antik designers Philippe Naouri and Alexandre Caugant in 2006, are scheduled to be completed in the next 60 to 90 days. The staff reduction is set to be done by the end of October.
“As we discussed on our second-quarter conference call, the management team and board of directors are keenly focused on returning to profitability. hellip; By narrowing the scope of our operations, we believe we will accelerate our core brands and grow our revenue base,” Glenn Palmer, Blue Holdings’ chief executive, said in a statement. The company projects the planned cuts will realize $750,000 in savings for 2007 and $2.8 million in savings in 2008.
As part of the restructuring, Yanuk will be relaunched for Spring 2008, and a new company Web site has been introduced.
The last year has been bumpy for Blue Holdings. In June, the company landed in hot water with NASDAQ in connection with an agreement Blue Holdings signed with musician William Adams for the planned I.Am.Antik. line of jeans. In July, founder and denim legend Paul Guez stepped down as chief executive. In October 2006, the company abandoned plans to expand its retail presence by buying 24-store mall chain Up Against the Wall. The cancelled deal was valued at $32 million and cost Blue Holdings an undisclosed amount. That same month, Blue Holdings also terminated an agreement to enter into a joint venture with Global Fashion Group. The two companies had formed a licensing agreement giving Global Fashion Group the right to manufacture and distribute Antik-, Taverniti- and Yanuk-brand jeans in Europe. —Erin Barajas
