Has Spiegel Brands Lost Its Relevance?
Spiegel has been in and out of bankruptcy a few times since 2003. Not a good sign.
And just last week Signature Styles, a division of private equity firm Patriarch Partners formed two years ago to purchase Spiegel Brands, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
The Spiegel, Newport News and Shape Fx apparel titles were included in the filing, along with affiliate Signature Styles Gift Cards. Signature Styles is seeking court approval for the sale of its assets by early August.
Signature Styles paid nearly $22 million for Spiegel Brands two years ago. Now Signature Styles wants to bail out. So, what is up next for Spiegel Brands?
An industry insider wasn’t surprised to hear about the bankruptcy filing because these brands “have either withered or, in the case of ShapeFx, have never been sufficiently supported or developed.”
What’s more, Signature Styles faced a combination of tight consumer spending and highly competitive and sophisticated competition in multichannel fashion retailing and, evidently, lacked both the capability and resources to compete successfully, the insider notes.
“These brands are about as irrelevant as Sears today,” according to the insider. “Sears at least has powerful brands in Craftsman, Kenmore, Lands’ End and Die Hard. If nothing else, these can survive beyond Sears.”
June 22nd, 2011 at 1:06 pm
It’s sad to see Spiegel struggle. I worked for them back in 1990-95 with a lot of good, smart people. And I liked the merchandise! Still have some home fashion items (bookcase, lamp etc.) that have held up through two decades and multiple moves.