Express Inc. is on the short list of Chapter 11 filings in 2024 thus far with more than $1 billion in liabilities.
Others on the list include 99 Cents Only Stores parent Number Holdings Inc. and fabrics and craft retailer Joann Inc. Express and Number Holdings filed their respective petitions in April, while Joann’s Chapter 11 filing was in March.
To date, consumer discretionary remained the sector with the most year-to-date bankruptcies with 28 Chapter 11 filings. Rounding out the top three sectors were healthcare at 27 filings, and industrials with 24 bankruptcies.
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According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, there were 66 new bankruptcy filings in April, up from 61 in March. Two other consumer discretionary firms that filed in April were slip-resistant footwear company Shoes for Crews and San Diego-based luxury kitchen and bath showroom retailer Pirch. While the pace of bankruptcies has accelerated since the start of the year, the 210 filings over the first four months of 2024 is still lower than the 224 recorded over the same 2023 time frame.
S&P Global Market Intelligence also found that companies headquartered in California accounted for more than 20 percent of all filings, with 14 in April. New York was second, with 8 bankruptcies, followed by six from both Florida and Texas. The S&P data focused on U.S. firms that have public debt.
Separately, there were also several fashion bankruptcies overseas. They include Swedish textile recycling firm Renewcell in February, Matches in March—whose IP was repurchased by Frasers Group—and Esprit subsidiaries in Switzerland in March and in Belgium in April.
Looking ahead, May began with the third Chapter 11 filing of teen and tween retailer Rue21, which plans to shut down all 540 doors and find a buyer for its intellectual property (IP). There’s also the chance that businesses operating the Ted Baker brand in the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium could enter administration at some point. The Ted Baker brand in the U.K. entered administration in March. Authentic Brands Group owns the Ted Baker IP. The overseas Ted Baker businesses were run by Authentic’s former partners.
