In what is becoming a familiar trend signifying how consumers are reducing their spending, it looks like another retailer is in financial straits. Women’s clothing retailer Love Culture has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to Reuters.
With this move, Love Culture is following in the steps of retailers Ashley Stewart Holdings, Coldwater Creek, Dots and Loehmann’s, which all filed for bankruptcy in the past two years.
To salvage its business, Love Culture is planning on closing its most unprofitable stores, restructuring debt and exploring the possibility of selling “substantially all of its assets,” reported Reuters. Love Culture disclosed that it has attracted the interest of several financial and strategic buyers, without naming them.
The news wire said that the retailer “began experiencing financial difficulties in 2012 during its expansion.” One factor that compromised Love Culture’s cash flow was the cost of upgrading its technology.
In its court filing, Love Culture revealed that it has as much as $50 million in assets and liabilities. For the year ending February 1, 2014, net sales for the business totaled $162.4 million.
Jai Rhee and Bennett Koo, former executives at Forever 21, launched Love Culture in 2007, with the aim of targeting women in the 18-to-35 demographic. An online store followed in 2010 and two years later, an upscale brand, Boutique Culture.
Source: Clothing Reuters — Cothing chain Love Culture files for bankruptcy, may be sold