Strategy

Sports Authority is taking steps towards filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg.

The retailer has a debt payment due in 10 days and in talk with its lenders about a reorganization plan under which it would close as many as 200 of its more than 450 stores, the report said.
 
Sports Authority reportedly skipped a $20 million in interest payment in January on a $343 million loan. It has 10 days to make the payment.

The nation’s two leading mattress specialty firms are one.

On Friday, Mattress Firm completed its $780 million acquisition of rival Sleepy’s. The combined company will have annual sales of over $3.6 billion through approximately 3,500 retail locations in 48 states.

It’s the beginning of a new era at long-suffering American Apparel.

On Friday, the company announced it has emerged from Chapter 11 as a private company after successfully implementing its reorganization plan. The announcement comes days after the Delaware bankruptcy court gave its approval to the plan.

Sports Authority is taking steps towards filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg.

The retailer has a debt payment due in 10 days and in talk with its lenders about a reorganization plan under which it would close as many as 200 of its more than 450 stores, the report said.

Sports Authority reportedly skipped a $20 million in interest payment in January on a $343 million loan. It has 10 days to make the payment.

Lululemon Athletica will open the first U.S. outpost of the brand’s design incubator “lab” format in downtown Manhattan, in March.

It’s only the second location for the unusual concept. The first, opened in 2009, is in the company’s hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.

As we look at the white hot commercial real estate market, it’s clear that value-add and opportunistic investors are chasing deals in new asset classes and locations that are less than ideal. And it makes sense: they are return-driven, happy to take more risks to chase higher yields. But when the market inevitably comes down, they’ll have more to lose.

Amazon.com has been typically tight-lipped about the performance of its Handmade at Amazon online arts and crafts marketplace since its October 2015 launch. However, Amazon has shared some exclusive early results with TheStreet. Find out if Etsy needs to be worried. [TheStreet]

It’s been quite common of late to hear retailers cite warm weather and intense competition as sources of sales weakness, but the prize for originality goes to PriceSmart after the warehouse club operator reported a January same-store sales decline.

Party City Holdco Inc. is looking to broaden its e-commerce reach.

The 900-store, vertical operator of the Party City and Halloween City party goods chains is launching a new e-commerce partnership with Staples Inc. Products manufactured and sourced by Party City will be merchandised and sold on Staples.com.

J.C. Penney is pursuing a possible sale and partial leaseback of its headquarters building in Plano, Texas, as part of an ongoing effort to reduce debt and manage expenses.

The company announced Friday that a combination of favorable market conditions and a surplus of available square footage within the building make this an attractive real estate opportunity.