Outdoor apparel chain Eddie Bauer’s nearly 200 stores in the United States and Canada may soon be on the chopping block.
An entity of retail holding company Catalyst Brands, which owns the license rights to operate Eddie Bauer stores across North America, is prepping a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, sources familiar with the situation told Business Insider.
Eddie Bauer’s roughly 180 stores in the US and Canada would be at risk of closure in the potential Chapter 11 restructuring.
The brand, best known for its durable outdoor apparel, is 106 years old. It was founded in Seattle in 1920 by outdoorsman Eddie Bauer, who later patented the first quilted goose down jacket in the country, dubbed the “Skyliner.”
In addition to outerwear, Eddie Bauer also sells hiking and travel gear, including luggage.
Sources told Business Insider that a Chapter 11 filing for the Catalyst Brands entity would not affect Eddie Bauer’s manufacturing, wholesale, or e-commerce operations, nor its retail business outside the US and Canada. Japan is home to several Eddie Bauer stores.
There are multiple parties interested in a portion of the existing North American store fleet, the sources familiar with the matter said.
In a Chapter 11 scenario, those interested parties could bid on all or part of the store operating business, according to the sources.
Any winning bidder would then acquire the operating business out of bankruptcy and license the rights from Authentic Brands Group — which owns the Eddie Bauer brand and IP worldwide — to operate any remaining Eddie Bauer stores.
Representatives for Authentic Brands Group declined to comment, while Catalyst Brands — the operator also behind JCPenney, Nautica, Brooks Brothers, and others — did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, Authentic Brands Group announced that it was transitioning the licenses for Eddie Bauer’s manufacturing, e-commerce, and wholesale operations in North America from Catalyst to Outdoor 5.
Eddie Bauer has filed for bankruptcy twice before, once in 2003 and again in 2009. In 2021, the brand was acquired by Authentic Brands Group in partnership with SPARC Group, which later became Catalyst Brands.
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