Wet Seal Talks Turnaround Plan

LOS ANGELES — Wet Seal, fresh out of bankruptcy at the age of 53, won’t blame fast fashion for its demise in recent years as much as some like to say the segment killed teen retail. “We’ve competed with Forever 21 for several years,” said chief executive officer Ed Thomas. “They’re really good at what they do….I think our challenges in the last few years were more self-inflicted.” Thomas rejoined the retailer — for a third time — in September after the former company had already gone through an interim management team followed by two ceos and just about as many strategies for improving the business. But too many pivots resulted in losses and by the time Thomas returned, it was too late. RELATED STORY: Bill Langsdorf Named to Lead Former Wet Seal >> The company began exploring strategic alternatives and then shuttered some 338 stores. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January and was acquired in an auction by private equity firm Versa Capital Management to emerge as Wet Seal LLC with 173 stores. The legacy company was renamed Seal 123 Inc. Steps taken to shore up operations prior to the bankruptcy “became part of a plan that was salable,” according to

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