When turnaround professionals represent retail organizations that are in a state of transition and require new ownership, they are managing a multifaceted situation. The sale of goods and/or services to customers through multiple distribution channels can be challenging to begin with; adding...

In rocket science, guidance maneuvers that employ engine thrust to slow or steer a rocket are often said to have made use of a “controlled burn.” While retail liquidations are certainly not rocket science, many small retailers could benefit from the use of a “controlled burn” of their own to slow...

In the robust financing environment of 2017, commercial bankruptcies leveled off from credit-crisis highs. Through the first three quarters of 2017, commercial bankruptcies totaled 17,371, a significant decline from the 2009 peak year, when 45,510 commercial bankruptcies were filed in the first...

As many in the turnaround and distressed space know, the total number of bankruptcy filings continues to languish. In Q1 2015, business bankruptcy filings were down more than 3 percent from Q4 2014 and 19 percent from Q1 2014. 1 In fact, Q1 2015’s filing count continues to mirror the lowest...

The retail industry was once dependent on store count and improving same-store sales to drive growth. Fast forwarding to 2015, when Amazon is ranked among the top 10 U.S. retailers, the most widely used buzzword of the year is “omnichannel,” and a retailer could potentially abandon generations of...

Against the backdrop of a U.S. retail landscape that some estimate provides over 50 square feet of retail space per person, 1 store closures remain an almost daily feature of retail news. From department stores to fast fashion, retailers across the U.S. are grappling with the challenge of deciding...

Today’s retailers face unprecedented challenges in the marketplace as they confront the evolution of not only customer shopping patterns, but also how retail is defined. Historically, top tier retailers thrived because they had the best locations and offered desirable merchandise at a great value...

As a veteran investment banker the author knows is fond of saying, “Retail isn’t rocket science—it is nowhere near that simple.” What retailers do have going for them, however, is the real-time performance reviews they receive from their true bosses—the frontline consumer. To satisfy increasingly...

After three years of study, the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 issued its “Final Report and Recommendations” December 8, 2014, setting forth its findings with respect to suggested improvements to Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Among other areas for possible reform, the...

Retail Chapter 11 cases are the name of the game these days. Retailer debtors file Chapter 11 for various reasons and often with multiple alternative exit strategies. The fortunate distressed retailer—and there are relatively few of them—can effect an internal reorganization, restructuring old debt...