Spiegel Drops the Other Hiking Boot

Spiegel Inc. (Downers Grove, Ill.) has said it will close 60 under-performing Eddie Bauer Inc. stores, pending Bankruptcy Court approval. It said it would begin closing the stores next month after liquidating inventory at each location.

The catalog and outlet store giant, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, had previously announced the shutting of various outlet stores but had been non-committal about its one true retail property, the Redmond, Wash.-based, 530-store Eddie Bauer chain, selling outerwear, khakis and jeans.

Eddie Bauer sales fell 11 percent in 2002, after slipping 9 percent in 2001 and 8 percent in 2000. Monthly same-store sales have also been anemic, falling 14 percent last month.

Spiegel says closing the 60 stores will boost Eddie Bauer's financial results in fiscal 2003 and beyond, but a company spokeswoman declined to provide specific figures. She also would no t comment on persistent rumors that Spiegel is looking to sell the chain.

Among the closings are 51 apparel stores, eight home stores and one outlet store. That will leave Spiegel with a total of 469 Eddie Bauer locations, 331 of which are apparel stores, 37 of which are home stores and 101 of which are outlets.

“The decision to close stores is never easy, yet we are confident that this move will result in a healthier, more productive store base for Eddie Bauer,” said Spiegel's interim ceo and chief restructuring officer Bill Kosturos.

“We are taking tough, but necessary steps to position Eddie Bauer for future success,” said Eddie Bauer president and ceo Fabian Mansson. “Our refined base of Eddie Bauer stores will operate as usual.”

Analysts told Crain's Chicago Business that a smaller, more focused Eddie Bauer might be able to maneuver against SUCH competitors as the Lands' End line now being marketed at Sears, Roebuck and Co., The Gap, which is attempting a turnaround, The Gap's Banana Republic division and J. Jill.

The list of stores to be closed, a combination of home and apparel units, includes one in Alabama, one in Arizona, eight in California, four in Connecticut, on in D.C., one in Florida, one in Georgia, one in Hawaii, four in Illinois, one in Kansas, one in Louisiana, two in Massachusetts, one in Maryland, one in Maine, one in Michigan, four in New Jersey, two in Nevada, five in New York, five in Ohio, one in Oregon, one in Pennsylvania, two in Tennessee, four in Texas, one in Utah, three in Virginia and two in Washington.