Bankrupt Eddie Bauer will close 34 home stores
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 14, 2005
Downers Grove, Ill. — The Eddie Bauer division of Spiegel Inc. will close its Eddie Bauer Home stores as part of its restructuring as it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Most of the 34 Eddie Bauer Home stores are expected to close in the second half of this year. The company also will close its direct home business, which includes the catalog and Internet offerings. It will continue to operate its apparel specialty stores.
In the future, the company, to be known as Eddie Bauer Holdings, will license its name to home furnishings vendors. It currently has a licensing arrangement with Lane for furniture.
The new company will be based in Redmond, Wash., the home of Eddie Bauer, according to the reorganization plan submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The new company also will hold Spiegel's interest in Spiegel Acceptance Corp. and Financial Service Acceptance Corp. When the company emerges from bankruptcy it will operate as an independent business with a board of directors separate from Spiegel.
Spiegel, which was controlled by German-based Otto GmbH, last year sold its Spiegel and Newport News catalogs to Pangea Holdings Ltd. Spiegel filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
