Photo: Ascena Retail Group, Inc.
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Ascena Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Announces Closures of Justice, Ann Taylor and Others
The Ascena Retail Group, Inc., the parent company of Ann Taylor, Justice and other retail stores, is the latest specialty retailer group to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The company wants to close 1,600 of its 2,800 stores and is more than $1 billion in debt, according to its Chapter 11 filing at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The court granted the Mahwah, N.J.–headquartered Ascena approval to use its more than $430 million in cash collateral to fulfill its duties during restructuring, pay employee wages and manage its daily operations.
The court also gave a green light for store closing sales for all of its Catherines stores, a significant number of its Justice stores and a select number of stores under the nameplates of Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lane Bryant and Lou & Grey. More than 50 of the stores scheduled to be closed are in California. Ascena is working with SB360 Capital Partners to produce the store-closing sales.
Gary Muto, Ascena’s chief executive officer, said that the restructuring will give his company the opportunity to inject new capital in the business and push it to the direction of growth
Gary Muto, Ascena’s chief executive officer said that the restructuring will give his company the opportunity to inject new capital in the business and push it in to the direction of growth.
