Linens 'n Things still appears to be teetering on the edge of entering bankruptcy protection, but the company may have bought more time after it announced that it has deferred the $16.1 million payment due Tuesday to GE Capital.
Linens, which was expected to file for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, said in a company statement that it is in discussions with an ad hoc committee of holders of its Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due 2014 regarding a restructuring.
However, have we all been too caught up in the Linens tragedy to see that other retailers, such as Footlocker Inc., AnnTaylor Stores Corp. and Zale Corp., are closing stores and may be hurting as well? Could one of them be that bellwether retail bankruptcy?
According to an article in The New York Times, Foot Locker is expected to close 140 stores, Ann Taylor said it would close 117, and Zale plans to close 100 stores this year. (Zale, by the way, has been in bankruptcy once before.)
In addition, Wilsons the Leather Experts Inc. said it would close 158 stores, and Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. is closing an entire 153-store chain called Demo, The New York Times reported. - Jamie Mason
See story from The New York Times
See cover story about the retail industry in distress from The Deal newsweekly
See Bankruptcy Insider's warning list (subscription required)
Comments
There has been a bankruptcy watch on Linens 'n Things Inc. for the better part of the week. It's almost as if everyone needs a signature Chapter 11 filing (like Kmart Corp. in 2002) to define the troubles in the retail sector for this bankruptcy upcycle. But they haven't gotten it. 
One thing to consider is the potential for gift card bankruptcies. A lot of those retailers carry loans out in gift cards, and they may or may not be able to allow their customers to use them. There's more information on gift card bankruptcy at savvywallet.com