Eddie Bauer, LLC, the entity operating Eddie Bauer’s stores in the U.S. and Canada, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a plan to close its 175 stores in North America while seeking a sale. In court papers, the company said a post-pandemic slowdown in outdoor-related sales, inflation and U.S. tariffs had led to annual losses over the last four years, with sales dropping 19 percent since 2022.
The bankruptcy had been rumored over the last few weeks. The iconic Seattle, Washington-based outdoor brand, established in 1920, has filed for bankruptcy twice before, in 2003 and 2009.
According to court documents, Catalyst Brands, the parent of Eddie Bauer. LLC (the store operator of Eddie Bauer) has reached a restructuring agreement with its secured lenders to reorganize under Chapter 11 protection.
Under the proposal, Eddie Bauer, LLC will conduct liquidation sales at Eddie Bauer North American stores “while continuing to pursue an ongoing sale process” of all or part of the store operating business in North America. Court papers indicate there has been some interest in acquiring the retail leases and licensing rights.
Going-out-of-business sales have begun and, unless the brick-and-mortar operations find a buyer, all 175 locations will close by April 30, according to court filings. The brand began the year with a fleet of about 220 stores; however, some leases lapsed in January.
Catalyst Brands, which owns the license to operate Eddie Bauer stores across the U.S. and Canada, was formed in January 2025 as a new joint venture between Sparc Group (a joint venture of brand management firm Authentic Brands Group, Simon Property Group and Shein) and JCPenney, combining major apparel brands, including Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand, and Nautica, with JCPenney’s retail operations. Only the Eddie Bauer North American retail business among Catalyst Brands is involved in bankruptcy proceedings.
The store operator said it will soon launch a court proceeding in Canada to protect its assets in the country and ensure that any sale agreement is enforceable on both sides of the border. The company has 31 stores in Canada, with about half in Ontario.
Eddie Bauer’s e-commerce and wholesale operations are not impacted by the wind-down, as they are operated by a separate licensed operator, Outdoor 5, LLC (Oved), and will continue to operate as usual.
In early January, Authentic, which acquired the Eddie Bauer brand and its intellectual property in 2021, announced that it was transitioning the licenses for Eddie Bauer’s manufacturing, e-commerce and wholesale operations in the U.S. and Canada from Catalyst Brands to Outdoor 5 (Oved), effective February 2. Oved, also known as O5 Apparel, also works with Billabong, Hurley, Lands’ End, Champion, Izod, and Wrangler.
On Monday, February 9, Authentic and Oved announced a new brand strategy centered on digital and wholesale, supported by a “Living Your Adventure” multi-channel marketing campaign.
Also not involved in the bankruptcy are 20 Eddie Bauer stores operated internationally under separate licensed agreements.
Restructuring Officer’s Commentary
In affidavit court documents, Stephen Coulombe, managing director at Berkeley Research Group, who has been working as Eddie Bauer, LLC’s co-chief restructuring officer since October 2025, said Eddie Bauer has undergone a series of ownership changes in the last 25 years, including in connection with two prior Chapter 11 proceedings.
In 2003, Spiegel, Inc., Eddie Bauer’s parent at the time, spun off the company as a standalone enterprise as part of bankruptcy proceedings. Six years later, during the 2008 financial crisis, Eddie Bauer filed for bankruptcy again, and its assets were acquired by Golden Gate Capital.
Golden Gate owned and operated the Eddie Bauer business from 2009 until 2021, when it sold the operating business, initially including e-commerce and wholesale operations in North America, to Sparc Group and its intellectual property to Authentic.
After the Sparc acquisition, Eddie Bauer, LLC initially performed well as the North American business “continued to capitalize on early COVID-19 era changes in consumer preferences as demand for outdoor apparel and gear increased and consumer discretionary spending spiked after federal relief spending. The company also captured operations savings by enacting cost-saving measures, which led to positive EBITDA of $21 million during the last eight months of 2021,” wrote Coulombe.
However, Eddie Bauer LLC’s business has faced “multiple headwinds” in recent years, including “shifting consumer preferences, resulting in a decline in customer demand well below the historical trendline since 2023.”
Coulombe further wrote that “a historic rise in inflation” significantly increased Eddie Bauer LLC’s underlying costs. He added, “Further, the long-standing though recently suspended ‘de-minimis’ tariff exemption allowed non-U.S. retailers to import goods without paying duties, and elevated tariffs have all coalesced to erode margins and have led to significant negative earnings.”
As a result of the headwinds, Eddie Bauer LLC recorded losses of approximately $2 million in 2022, $10 million in 2023, $82 million in 2024, and $80 million in 2025. Sales declined 19 percent from $711 million in 2022 to $577 million in 2025.
Coulombe noted that other retailers faced similar challenges, with roughly twenty-one retail companies with liabilities of at least $100 million filing for Chapter 11 since the Sparc acquisition.
As challenges persisted in the second half of 2025, Eddie Bauer, LLC, engaged Kirkland & Ellis LLP as legal counsel and Berkeley Research Group, LLC, as financial advisor to explore turnaround strategies.
Coulombe said that, as “financial challenges continued to mount” in the fourth quarter, Eddie Bauer, LLC determined that one path to stabilize the business was to stop accruing fixed intellectual property licensing fees payable to Authentic under the license agreement. Eddie Bauer LLC faced approximately $220 million in future fees due over the remaining six years of the license agreement. Coulombe said, “Sales had declined to an extent that they could no longer support payment of the fixed licensing fees.”
As a result, Eddie Bauer LLC terminated its licensing agreement with Authentic, enabling Authentic to eventually transition wholesale and e-commerce rights with respect to the Eddie Bauer brand to Outdoor 5, LLC. Under a revised licensing agreement, Eddie Bauer, LLC retained the right to operate brick-and-mortar retail locations in North America and was released from future obligations to pay minimum royalty fees and other expenses under the license, resulting in approximately $220 million in savings.
Nonetheless, store operator’s revised projections continued to indicate the retail operator would generate negative cash flow, and Sparc, which had been funding the company’s cash shortfalls through intercompany loans, “also expressed an intention to cease funding future losses.”
As a result, on November 24, 2025, Eddie Bauer, LLC retained Solic Capital Advisors to explore potential third-party purchasers for the business. On January 5, 2026, a formal sale-and-marketing process for Eddie Bauer, LLC’s assets was launched. With Solic’s assistance, 126 potential acquirers were contacted, including 58 strategic parties and 68 financial parties.
As of the Chapter 11 filing, 34 parties have signed nondisclosure agreements to gain confidential information to potentially explore a bid. On or after January 30, two non-binding indications of interest (IOIs) relating to a portion of Eddie Bauer, LLC were received. Coulombe said in court papers, “These IOIs reflect strong interest in the assets and demonstrate the potential for a robust in-court sale process and a competitive auction.”
Eddie Bauer, LLC is seeking bankruptcy court approval to continue the “competitive prepetition sale process on a post-petition basis,” as well as the approval of bidding procedures. Eddie Bauer, LLC is also seeking court approval to possibly select a stalking horse bidder to help set a minimum bid for Eddie Bauer LLC’s assets.
Eddie Bauer, LLC is looking to set a deadline of February 27 for selecting a stalking horse bidder. Under the company’s proposal, bids would be due on March 3, and the court auction would take place on March 6.
In parallel, the company retained Hilco Merchant Resources, LLC and SB360 Capital Partners, LLC on January 29 to assist with the winddown of its brick-and-mortar retail business. The company estimates it will receive approximately $21.3 million from the store-closing sales.
The firm continues to face liquidity constraints, with only about $20 million in cash on hand and average weekly disbursements of about $1.6 million over the next 13 weeks.
Catalyst Brands’ Management Commentary
In a statement, Marc Rosen, CEO of Catalyst Brands and previously JCPenney’s CEO, before the creation of Catalyst Brands, said Eddie Bauer’s North American retail operations (referred to as “The Retail Company” in court documents) have been facing challenges for a while, but inflationary pressure and tariff-related headwinds exacerbated problems over the last year.
Rosen said, “Even prior to the inception of Catalyst Brands last year, The Retail Company [Eddie Bauer LLC] was in a challenged situation, with declining sales, supply chain challenges and other issues. Over the past year, these challenges have been exacerbated by various headwinds, including increased costs of doing business due to inflation, ongoing tariff uncertainty, and other factors. While the leadership team at Catalyst was able to make significant strides in the brand, including rapid improvements in product development and marketing, those changes could not be implemented fast enough to fully address the challenges created over several years.”
Rosen continued, “The Retail Company has evaluated all options and taken actions to best position the Retail Company for the future, including transitioning the Retail Company’s e-commerce and wholesale operations to Outdoor 5 LLC. After careful deliberation, the Retail Company has made the difficult decision to file under Chapter 11 to implement a court-supervised sale process and solicit a going concern transaction. If the Retail Company is unable to come to such an arrangement, we will commence an orderly wind-down of the Retail Company’s store operations.”
Rosen concluded, “This is not an easy decision, and we are grateful to the Retail Company’s associates and customers for their loyalty and trust. We are working to minimize the impact on the Retail Company’s employees, vendors, customers and other stakeholders. However, this restructuring is the best way to optimize value for the Retail Company’s stakeholders and ensure Catalyst Brands remains profitable and with strong liquidity and cash flow.”
Unsecured Creditors List
The Top 30 unsecured creditors list included many of the retailer operators’ suppliers across China, Hong Kong, Shri Lanka, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and India. In North America, trade suppliers with unpaid bills include Washington Shoe Company, the rain boot maker based in Washington; Wisconsin’s Ross Glove; Charmant USA, a maker of eyeglasses with U.S. headquarters in New Jersey; Hadley Development, a maker of outdoor apparel based in Kansas; and Dogree Fashions (USA), Inc., a Quebec-based headwear specialist.
The complete Top 30 list includes the following:
- GXO Logistics Supply Chain, Inc., High Point, NC, owed $6,935,833
- Bosideng International Fashion, LTD, Hong Kong, $3,425,995
- Shanghai Dongxia Industry & Commerce Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China, $2,555,476
- MTL Sourcing DMCC, Dubai, UAE, $2,404,238
- Vietsun, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, $1,954,666
- Martex Sourcing, LLC, Colombo, Sri Lanka, $1,916,478
- Google, Inc., Mountain View, CA, $1,541,262
- Dongxia Industrial Lanka PVT, Ltd., Dummalasuriya, Sri Lanka, $1,278,236
- Meta Platforms,Inc., Menlo Park, CA, $1,130,945
- Ningbo Mengdi Imp. & Exp. Co., Zhejiang, China, $786,994
- South Asia Knitting Factory Limited, Hong Kong, $631,713
- Star Garments Group (PVT) LTD, Katunyake, Sri Lanka, $628,682
- Ross Glove Co., Sheboygan, WI, $518,037
- Yee Tung Garment Direct, Hong Kong, $481,322
- Eastman Exp Glo Clo PVT Ltd., Tamil Nadu, India, $437,395
- Washington Shoe Company, Kent, WA, $427,195
- United Parcel Service, Inc., Atlanta, GA, $427,195
- Forter, Inc., New York, NY, $381,169
- Viet Thai Garment Export JSC, Thai Binh, Vietnam, $355,362
- Accutech Packaging, Inc., Foxboro, MA, $322,880
- Primary Color Systems, Cypress, CA, $292,825
- Dogree Fashions (USA), Inc., Quebec, Canada, $270,177
- Infinity Global, Inc., Danville, VA, $257,563
- Noi Solutions, LLC, New York, NY, $249,607
- Pinterest, Inc., San Francisco, CA, $241,070
- Charmant USA, Inc., Morris Plains, NJ, $211,953
- Hansae Co., Ltd., Seoul, South Korea, $164,723
- TMone, LLC (dba MCI BPO LC), Iowa City, IA, $157,408
- Hadley Development, LLC, Wichita, KS, $142,890
- Fullcharm Knitters, Ltd., Gazipur, Bangladesh, $138,005
Image courtesy Eddie Bauer
