Discount department store Loehmann's filed for its third and final bankruptcy this week, and announced that it plans to close its doors for good.
The Bronx-based store best known for selling designer duds at seriously slashed prices wrote in its file for the federal Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan that it will sell all 39 stores at an auction scheduled for Dec. 30, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Bids from a collective comprised of such financial groups as SB Capital Group, Tiger Capital Group and A&G Realty Partners has already been offered. The group is reportedly offering a package that includes $19 million in cash.
Loehmann's, which opened for business in 1921, employs about 1,600 workers. The company's assets are worth an estimated $50-$100 million. The company first filed for bankruptcy in 1999, then closed 25 locations to save money. In 2010, Loehmann's declared bankruptcy once more, and shut down nine more stores.
Chief Operating Officer William Thayer said in Monday's bankruptcy documents that the chain was "late in introducing the e-commerce channel relative to its peers in the 'off-price' retail sector," after its website went live in 2011, following less than six months of web work.
Additionally, "the decline in economic conditions" for Loehmann's California, New York, Florida and Midwest markets have also created "an adverse effect."
Thayer also said that an "increased competition in the off-price retail channel, limited access to capital and a number of strategic, financial and operating decisions," influenced the decision to close up shop.
