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

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWD » Wet Seal Talks Turnaround Plan http://ift.tt/1GnsxUS
via IFTTT

Consac Renews Call for Sale of Quiksilver

Activist investor Ryan Drexler of Consac LLC is making his third push for a sale of Quiksilver Inc. in less than seven months, and this time he’s offering names of potential buyers — Nike Inc. and VF Corp. Consac has increased its holdings in Quiksilver to more than 3.5 million shares, or about 2 percent of those outstanding, from more than 2 million when he first contacted the troubled Huntington Beach, Calif.-based skate- and surf-focused apparel and footwear firm to push for an exploration of a sale in October. But neither last month’s dismissal of Andy Mooney as chief executive officer nor founder Bob McKnight’s return to the firm as chairman have lessened his conviction that the company’s performance is a source of “continuing and profound disappointment” and that a sale process should be effected “before things get worse.” In his view, the situation has deteriorated, with first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization down 38.6 percent, a drop in the stock of 26 percent from a one-month high in March and, just prior to Mooney’s dismissal and McKnight’s return, the admission of a lack of internal controls that led to a “revenue cutoff” problem and the restatement of prior quarterly

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWD » Wet Seal Talks Turnaround Plan http://ift.tt/1KapsIS
via IFTTT