Dive Brief:
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Sandpoint, Idaho-based women’s apparel retailer Coldwater Creek will likely file for bankruptcy any day now and plans to liquidate its assets, sources told Bloomberg.
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The filing and liquidation would come some five months after the company had searched for other ways out of its predicament, including looking for a buyer.
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Sales at stores open at least a year had fallen 17% in the quarter ending Nov. 2, a dire sign of the retailer’s health.
Dive Insight:
Many clothing retailers are struggling, but Coldwater Creek, like Dots and Loehmann’s recently, looks to be throwing in the towel. Even as the company looked for options, including a sale, it never really devised a turnaround plan or seemed to be able to connect to its customers. The retailer had stated that its clothing was made for women 30 to 50 years old, but in reality many consumers found it more appropriate for an older crowd — or maybe simply no crowd at all.