Eddie Bauer Files Bankruptcy With Plans to Sell Off Stores

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(Bloomberg) — Clothing retailer Eddie Bauer LLC filed for Chapter 11 in what marks the chain’s third trip to bankruptcy court. This time, the plan is to sell as many of its 175 stores as possible and liquidate the rest. 

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The insolvency case comes after the brand’s owner, Authentic Brands Group, moved key licensing agreements to a new operator. Under that change, Outdoor 5 LLC took over Eddie Bauer’s e-commerce and wholesale businesses as well as responsibility for design and product development in the US and Canada, according to a company statement.

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In recent years, Eddie Bauer has struggled with declining sales and supply chain problems made worse by tariffs and inflation, according to a statement by Marc Rosen, chief executive of Catalyst Brands, the joint venture that controls the retailer. 

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It has been through two previous bankruptcies, in 2003 and again in 2009, when prior owners sought cut its debt and reorganized. Authentic Brands Group led the the most recent purchase of Eddie Bauer in 2021, taking over the brand from the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. 

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Catalyst Brands, which was formed in January 2025, runs the retail business of several Authentic-owned apparel brands including Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand, and Nautica. 

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Catalyst is co-owned by the mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield Corporation, whose many business deals with Authentic over the years have served to prop up — at least temporarily — struggling retailers from which Simon and Brookfield receive rental income and Authentic collects royalty payments.

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The restructuring of Eddie Bauer, one of the many retail chains it operates, will ensure Catalyst itself “remains profitable and with strong liquidity and cashflow,” Rosen said in the statement. 

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Eddie Bauer LLC listed more than $1.7 billion in debt and less than $500 million worth of assets in court papers Monday. It has a deal with secured lenders to auction off its brick-and-mortar operations, the company said in Chapter 11 court papers filed in New Jersey. 

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The company received two potential offers Jan. 30 and is working to get binding bids to keep as much of the business going as possible.

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Any buyer of the stores, however, would have to win approval by Authentic Brands to license the Eddie Bauer brand in order to operate them as such. 

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The e-commerce and wholesale operations taken over by Outdoor 5 are not part of the bankruptcy and will not be impacted by the insolvency case, the company said.

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The case is Eddie Bauer LLC, 26-11422, US Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey.

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(Updates with latest from court filing in eighth paragraph.)

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