Early January brought a rash of store closure announcements from household names. Macy’s and Sears collectively announced 218 store closures across the United States, 1 and The Limited announced it would close all of its 250 U.S. stores, while assuring customers that all of its products would still...
A recent bankruptcy case in Southern California has raised significant questions about the limits, if any, on the power of state governments in approving or rejecting sales of assets of not-for-profit healthcare industry entities. With Congress focused on repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA),...
U.S. retail is under stress. While it seems that this has been in the headlines more and more lately, the fact is that consistent disruption by new entrants has been the story of U.S. retail for decades, with the rise and fall of catalog showrooms, big-box retailers, department stores, and, more...
Over the past several years, secured lenders have faced greater uncertainty as to whether Bankruptcy Courts will permit them to credit bid their entire secured claim in asset sales under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. In the bankruptcy of Fisker Automotive Holdings Inc., an electric...
A few years ago, two large U.S. grocery store chains merged. Parts of the combined chain were acquired by a much smaller regional grocery chain, which was declared the “winner” in the sale of locations that the combined company needed to divest to comply with a Federal Trade Commission order and...
During the past several years, many retailers have identified a few common challenges as their most difficult to navigate. The prevalence of savvy shoppers who like to view products at stores and then turn to e-commerce and m-commerce (mobile commerce) platforms to find retailers that offer the...
Retail executives have felt the impact of the new and more demanding business environment in recent years. The rising challenges of new competition, technology, consumer demographics, etc., have caused unsettling shifts few could have predicted as the new millennium began. Major disruptive trends...
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman of the Southern District of New York issued a bench decision on March 8, 2016, in the Chapter 11 cases of Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation (Case No. 15-11835), authorizing the debtors to reject certain executory contracts between (i) Sabine and Nordheim Eagle...
A dispute arising from the bankruptcy cases of Sports Authority Holdings Inc. highlights an issue that could be at the forefront of upcoming retail bankruptcies and should always be considered by parties with credit exposure to distressed retailers. The dispute centered on the competing claims of...
Everyone knew that 2015 would be a daunting year for the North American energy sector, but it arguably surpassed even the worst of expectations and closed out the year at the nadir of a tumultuous and largely unanticipated downturn. Informed opinions largely agree that 2016 holds few prospects for...
