Plus-sized women’s retailer Avenue Stores LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the District of Delaware late last month. It also announced it will close all 222 of its brick-and-mortar stores as it looks to transform its business into an e-commerce platform. Closures are expected to happen by the end of September, and will include Valley region locations in Sun Valley, Northridge, Lancaster and Ventura, as well as 43 other stores throughout California. Avenue, based in Rochelle Park, N.J., is now seeking a buyer for its online division, which includes three websites: avenue.com, cloudwalkers.com and loralette.com. The sites will continue to operate while the company looks for a buyer with the help of investment banking firm Configure Partners. Berkeley Research Group LLC, in Emeryville, is the company’s restructuring advisor. In a statement announcing the filing, Avenue President David Rhodes explained the closures come due to declining in-store sales, rising costs of labor and real estate and growth in competitors. He called the shift to e-commerce “the most viable way to continue serving Avenue’s loyal customers.” Liquidation sales at Avenue stores in 33 states will be managed by a joint venture of investment firm Gordon Brothers, based in Boston, and retail asset monetization specialists Hilco Merchant Resources, in Northbrook, Ill. Customers can find price reductions of 30 to 50 percent on all merchandise. Avenue is the latest in a string of apparel retailers that have shuttered this year, including Dressbarn, which specialized in women’s career wear, and men’s luxury department store Barney’s, which filed for Chapter 11 last month.
